16 July 2015 - rest in him

We're all weary sometimes. We all deal with heavy burdens. Sometimes we are tempted to think that no one cares. But God cares:

I am concerned about you
and about the way you are being treated in Egypt;
so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt

Jesus cares:

Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.

The way out of the misery of Egypt is the promised land we find in Jesus. We can taste the milk and honey of this promised land even now. We taste it in our relationship with the God who tells us that his name is, "I am who am."

He is not one among many. He is the precondition necessary for anything else to exist. This world is contingent, entirely dependent on him. It is true that this world is wounded by the freedom which he allows us to have. But the solution to this wound is not found in contingent things. It is found in our relationship with the one who is. The stability of a relationship with the one who is contigent on nothing infuses and renews every experience and every relationship in our lives.

This is why we can have rest through Jesus when we come to him.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.

When our yoke is based on our relationship with the God who is we find that it does not exhaust us. On the contrary, the strength of necessary being is the one place we can find rest. Past generations have found rest in the LORD. He is the God of our fathers, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And because in the LORD there is no variance or shadow due to change (cf. Jam. 1:17) all future generations can count on him as well.

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

All else is shifting sands.We owe it to the world to let them know where stability, safety, peace, and lasting joy can be found. Let us build our houses on the rock. Let us invite the whole world to join us. He was faithful in the past so we can know for sure he will be faithful again.

Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered. 

We can trust his promise absolutely. Let us come to Jesus with all that we are. Let us cast our cares on the one who cares for us (cf. 1 Pet. 5:7).