Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV)
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Jesus calls all people to Himself, that He might give them rest. He is talking about a different type of rest that we would think of. When we think of rest it is the absence of doing anything, just relaxing, sleeping, … He talks about a rest that is inside us that we can have while active, despite of what is happening around us. We can be at rest while doing the works that GOD has called us to. We don’t need to try to impress GOD and earn brownie points to get His attention and earn our salvation. Jesus did it all. When we follow Him doing His works He works through us. I believe if we have entered His rest and do what GOD called us we will do it out of His rest and there be no burn out but if we strive in the flesh we can get burned out. Part of the rest is knowing that we are saved, our sins have been for given, that we have eternal life, that when we leave our body (die) we will be with Him, that we will not experience His wrath that He will pour out on the earth because He will bring us to Himself before that. Rest comes in Christ by learning from Jesus. He will teach us His ways in meekness (showing patience and humility; gentle) not in an impatient, proud, rough, judgmental, arrogant…. Way. What He asks us to do is not hard. He is the one who empowers us and works through us by His Holy Spirit.
Zechariah 4:6 (KJV) Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
What is the prerequisite to gain that rest? It is as we read to come to Jesus and the only way to come to Him is by believing in Him. We can see in Hebrews, that because of unbelief, people who have seen GOD’s workings, who were rescued form slavery in Egypt did not enter the rest He provided. They where still looking back to the world and kept wanting to go back to Egypt. They were rebellious, kept on sinning and disobedient to GOD who liberated them. Yet, in GOD’s patience and long suffering He bore with them and kept giving them opportunity to enter His rest.
Hebrews 3:16-19 (KJV)
16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Further on we see that His rest is available and as we saw in Matthew Jesus is calling “Come to Me”.
Hebrews 4:9-11 (KJV)
9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
The only work we have to do is to believe and come. For Jesus Christ has done it all on the cross for us. He said himself on the cross “It is finished”. Galatians 2:20 (KJV) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Let us have this faith attitude, let us cease form our own works to please GOD but let Him do His works through us. Let us keep on believing entering the rest He has made available to all who come to Jesus Christ.