“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11.28, NET)
Today in Bahrain is Labour Day, historically celebrated as a day of rest from work and the burdens of daily life. Many around the world have physically demanding jobs, intellectually demanding jobs, or emotionally demanding jobs, and labour day is a day to rest, recharge, and recover.
In Matthew 11 Jesus is speaking to those who would follow Him by grace and through faith (vv.25-26). In contrast to the tireless and endless task of trying to know God through our own efforts and exertions Jesus says that no one knows the Father except [Him] and anyone to whom [He] decides to reveal Him.
The work and the burden of knowing God is something that people have struggled with since people have been around (Psalm 119.10, Jeremiah 24.7, Hosea 6.3). We have an inbuilt sense to seek after something greater than ourselves and this inevitably leads us, one way or another to God, the creator of heaven and earth. The work and the burden of knowing Him through our own efforts and exertions is tireless and endless because, simply, He is God and we are not (Isaiah 55.8-9, 64.6). There is a fundamental difference between Him and us that we cannot fathom ourselves. We needed Him to condescend to us and our level and reveal Himself to us so that we can rest from the work of seeking Him (the exchange of Philippians 2) ¹.
Instead of bearing the burden of seeking God on your own, take the words of Jesus to heart by grace and through faith this labour day:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11.28, NET)
¹
James Travis 