Matthew 11:28 – Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

I recently received a text from a friend asking me a question – “In one sentence, what is the message of Christ?” I enjoyed getting this question and at first I smiled at the simplicity of it. But as I thought about my answer, it wasn’t quite so simple. 

In formulating a response, the most appropriate place to find the answer seemed to be from Jesus’ own words. All through the gospels, Jesus gives his message. In John 3 he gives it to Nicodemus. In John 4, he gives it to the woman at the well. In Matthew 5-7 he gives it to a large group in the sermon on the mount. In Luke 19, he gives it to Zaccheus. And in scriptures too numerous to list here, he gives his message to his disciples. I considered all these as places from which to capture Jesus’ message in just 1 sentence. But in the end, I settled on Matthew 11:28; “come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” 

The call to rest; this is the message of Christ. He came to give rest; rest from busy-ness which is empty, rest from sin which is exhausting, rest from oppression which is evil, rest from pride which is ever-present, rest from self which is energy-draining, rest for our minds which eventually show us that we don’t have all the answers, and rest for our hearts which seek an eternal home beyond this world. 

Here lies a great contrast between Christ and the world. Christ offers rest while the world offers more. What do you need – rest or more? If we are honest, I think we will find that we don’t really need more. We need rest. What do you need to rest from? Jesus is the only one who can give that rest and His offer is still good today. 

“Lord I need your rest today. By your finished death on the cross and resurrection, which I accept by faith, I believe that you can provide the rest you promise. Please help me to stop striving and live in your rest. Amen.”

Thankful for you all,

Kris & Alania