“COME TO ME, ALL WHO LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST.”
— Matthew 11:27
Rest is a gift and Jesus is the giver.
Tell it in the streets. Shout it from the mountaintops. There is no other god who gives rest so freely to his people. And oh how we need it.
We live in a world of hustle, striving, and scarcity. Rest is something we think we need to achieve. We’re told ‘work before play.’ We’re taught to be responsible. If only we chase retirement, then we can finally rest.
In break Jesus’ words, I will give you rest.
With this single phrase Jesus flips over tables again. Rest is not a goal to chase. It’s not a beach or a boat. Rest is a gift. He who sustains the whole world also gives rest to individual people.
His invitation is simple, Come to me. The gift comes from the Giver. We look for rest in all kinds of ways. Some of us want to escape. Others of us want to complete our to-do lists. Jesus says, Come…and I will give you rest.
I will, says our Master. Not I might, but I will. Rest is his promise, coming to him our response. Are you one who labors and is heavy laden? Have you been overwhelmed, overworked, and overcome this year? The Master’s offer still stands.
We can spend a lot of money looking for rest and still wind up exhausted. We can work overtime to achieve rest, but collapse across an invisible finish line. Some of us feel guilty resting when there’s so much more we could be accomplishing, even accomplishing for Jesus.
We operate as God’s slaves, meant to perform and produce for him, unable to set boundary lines on our work. It would be enough for God to treat us as slaves, but it was his idea to call us sons and daughters. It was his idea to redeem us as his own by the blood of Jesus. It was his idea to promise us rest.
Jesus knows what you need. He understands the pressure you’ve carried. He sees the crisis you’ve walked through. Hear his words to you in this season:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
As you rest in him, this is a picture of what’s to come. Taste the appetizer and look forward to the future rest promised to every believer. That rest is neither earned nor deserved. It’s not a reward, it’s a gift, a gift only a generous God would think to give.
© John Rinehart 2025