One of Jesus' more popular sayings is recorded in Matthew 11:28-30. There, He invites the weary to come to Him for rest, and to take His easy yoke (which I think of as forgiveness and hope) upon us. There we see the heart of God, who wants us to find our Sabbath rest in Him, and not merely in a day away from working for ourselves to focus on God.
But then, we have Jesus telling us other things, such as taking up our cross and following Him (Matthew 16:24-26). He indicates on a number of different occasions that His followers are to count the cost of following Him (Luke 14:25-33). So it makes it sound as though being a follower of Jesus is not one of mere rest, but of active following, of living our our lives as Christ-followers, and knowing that it will require a cost on our part.
This tension is a difficult one to balance in our lives. We may find it challenging to both rest in His promise of rest in the forgiveness of sin and the assurance of life, and yet, to be actively living out our life of faith. We may find that there are times where we are really involved in activity for God and His people and the people of the world, and then that there are times where we want nothing more than to simply rest in Him.
I would suggest that we would benefit greatly if we found out how to balance these matters more frequently in our life, rather than resting once we have become burnt out. We tend to swing between the extremes, when it would seem that if we would simply keep a more firm balance regularly, we would be able to both rest more frequently and be very active in our lives of service.
Do you find that you have a tendency toward one extreme or the other? How do you work to maintain a balance in your rest in Jesus and in the cost of following Him?
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