An Invitation
There is something great about a genuine invitation to go to a special event. This morning we had an invitation to attend the wedding of some dear friends. Fantastic.
Yet the invitation from the Lord Jesus is far, far greater. He says,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28
Who is the invitation from?
The previous verse makes this very clear. He is the unique Son of God. Some have misunderstood this claim. But just as the son of a monkey is a monkey, the son of a giraffe is a giraffe, so the Son of God is truly God. He is the creator of this universe.
Who is the invitation to?
“Come to me and I will give you rest” Jesus says. ‘Rest’ in the Old Testament is the same word as Sabbath. It is a picture of paradise. Jews were told to keep the Sabbath each week, to remind them of what had been lost. Our present rebellion against God reflects the rebellion Adam and Eve showed in the Garden of Eden. We also have all rejected God’s rule in our life. Jesus came so that we can all experience that close relationship with God. We know the Father though our relationship with Jesus. Those who have ‘sold out’ to the Lord Jesus, and only those, are guaranteed a place in paradise.
Professor Weeks was a very distinguished Professor of Church History who discovered this simple truth. After this discovery he wrote,
“Christianity is the only religion in the world which is based on a personal relationship with its founder.”
The poet Tennyson recognised this need. He wrote,
“Oh for a man to arise in me, that the man I am might cease to be.” Maud X.VI
Jesus says that he will restore us to be the person we want to be.
Jesus describes a pack animal burdened down with much weight as a picture of many people. How can we make sense of life, how can we cope? Then along comes an all powerful figure, a spiritual carthorse, who says, “Let me share your life. Let me share the burdens. Let me take the strain off you. Start a new life with me alongside.”
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
How can I find this rest?
An Asian family received a wedding invitation but they could not understand the letters R.S.V.P. at the bottom. The husband thought he had the solution,
“Remember Send Vedding Present”
How wrong. There is nothing we can give to God to make ourselves acceptable to him. He simply wants us back, with all our woes and guilt.
RSVP means that we must respond. Similarly without a personal commitment to the Lord Jesus we are not safe, we are not saved. God has come in Christ. He offers us forgiveness, he offers us eternal life in paradise in the future and he offers to share our burdens now. It is not enough to be born in a Christian family or even to go to church. We must personally respond to Jesus’ offer and sell out to him.
A person is not married till they publicly say ‘I will’. In a similar way Jesus asks each of us,
“Will you take me to be your Saviour and Lord? Will you from now on, forsaking all else, hold only to me? Will you love me and obey me?”
BVP
Feb 2012
