THE REST WHICH CHRIST GIVES

THE REST WHICH CHRIST GIVES

I feel it is uphill work here, there is little earnestness or purpose to get on. I find on all sides a want of freedom from personal anxiety sufficient to allow the heart, at leisure from itself, to rest in God - the rest which Christ gives. The first rest, Matthew 11: 28, 29, is not a given rest. The true reading is, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will ease you - or rest you. It is a verb. Then: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; ... and ye shall find rest [a noun] unto your souls”; and this was with reference to service, and not merely to things concerning oneself. There is no permission to think or to care for the things on your own side! I have been struck with that lately - how strong the injunction is: “Take no thought”! And it is not: ‘Seek rather’. You are to seek God’s kingdom, where His rule is, and everything will be added unto you. Seek even your own blessing exclusively, as Israel did in Haggai’s time, and all will fade like a flower separated from its root!