He had brought his family up modestly, to know the value of money, to be happy working toward a definite end, to be little influenced by the outside world.”
–Zane Grey (30,000 on the Hoof)
“And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.”
–Mark 6:31 (NKJV)
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I’m get so weary and tired and the bureaucrats–especially the liberals. They weary me to the bone with their gab. I don’t know if that is a mental tiredness or spiritual. Probably both since we wrestle continually against wickedness in high places. There is also that physical weariness that comes from hard work. Most of the time I do my own writing, maybe gaining an idea from someplace else or a song or poem. But since many of you are tired as well, I found this in my reading and thought I’d share it with you. This was by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of my favorite writers.
Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28, NKJV) “The Gospel announces that rest is only to be found in a knowledge of God, because God has made us, and He had made us in such a way that we never can know rest apart from Him. The great Augustine of Hippo put that perfectly when he said, ‘Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our souls are restless until they find their rest in Thee.’
“You can scale the heights or plumb the depths, you can travel around the world, as many people have done, trying to find rest and peace, but you will never find it. God has so made us–and this is the glory and dignity of man–that nothing can finally be made at rest until our souls are satisfied in God. And the world, I suggest to you, is an eloquent sermon on that particular theme. With all that we have in the modern world of wealth and culture and education and everything else, look at the picture of unutterable restlessness all around us. ‘”There is no peace,” Says my God, “for the wicked.”‘ (Isaiah 57:21 (NKJV) There is no rest apart from a knowledge of God.
“The Lord alone can give us this knowledge. ‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me…’. (Matthew 11:28-29, NKJV) Notice the personal reference; all along He is pointing to Himself. Yes, but He is doing more than that–He is contrasting Himself with everybody else. His claim is that ‘Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.’ (Matthew 11:27, NKJV) He says that not only can He give us this knowledge of God, but that no one and nothing else can give us and create this knowledge in us.”
Isn’t it interesting that there are so many clamoring for rest, peace and safety, yet they fight so hard against the only One that can grant it? Just look at the God-haters, the atheists–they spend so much time and effort fighting against God instead of finding rest in Him.
One other thought to ponder. Look at the last part of verse 29 and also verse 30. To rest, we pick up His yoke and His burden. In other words, we rest in what He has for us. The soul will be in turmoil until it comes to know Christ, then and only then will there be rest.
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Today in the Texas Revolution: The Mexican army arrives in Goliad on its way back to Mexico.