There are a great many areas of the Bible that speak on rest and the importance of it. Not just physical rest, but rest for the spirit as well. It is a fact that you can outwardly appear quite restful, yet still be in great turmoil on the inside. A person can also be very busy on the outside, but be completely at peace inwardly.
Jesus spoke quite often about His peace, and the importance of having rest. The simple truth of the matter is that when we actually take a step back and realize who God is and how much that He actually loves us, we then realize how utterly foolish it is to worry about anything to begin with. This was a big part of His message, and it is what we will be looking at today.
Ultimately when you consider salvation, it is an act designed to bring rest for all of our spirits. To truly have rest is to be at peace with God. No-one can have rest without being at peace with God; yet with salvation comes the wonderful truth that all of our sins and transgressions have been forgiven, and we once again have open and unrestricted access to our Father God and His Holy Spirit through the completed work of Jesus Christ. Knowing this, and the fullness of the work which He had come to do for us, Jesus taught this truth in Matthew 6:25-34, let’s read it now:
“Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?
And why take you thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say to you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Therefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What will we eat? or, What will we drink? or, Wherewithal will we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.
But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow will take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.”
Now there are a lot of points that we could consider here, and I have taught on some of those points in past messages, but what I want to call your attention to today is the overall theme of rest which Jesus is saying here and most importantly why He says that we should rest… Because we have a Father God in Heaven who sees us, loves us, and cares about our needs.
So often I see people read these words of Jesus and they have this attitude of “Gee, that’s a nice thought” and then they go on about their day the same as always. They completely miss the heart of Jesus in what the scripture is saying, and they fail to realize the very nature of the one who is speaking these words.
My friends, let us always remember that Jesus is more than just a “good man” or a “notable teacher”. He is the very essence of God made flesh for our sakes. When He says something is true, you can count on it. What is even better about this fact is that when Jesus says that we are not to worry because our Father in Heaven loves us and cares for us, well that statement from Jesus is every bit as true as the other statements!
Examine also, the final statement in verse 34, which tells us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these other things will be added to us. Notice that it does not say to work for or seek after our own righteousness, but His righteousness. See because of Jesus taking our place on the cross, it is not our own efforts that God is concerned with, but the completed work of Jesus Christ Himself. This is why self-effort is so worthless in the sight of God. Jesus took our place and He earned for us what we could never earn for ourselves.
Yet still so many people, even Christians today are trying to earn favor and righteousness with God through their own self-efforts, and by doing so it is a great ignorance of what Jesus Christ has already accomplished on the cross for us. We can either trust in our own arm, or Jesus’ arm; we can either trust in our own strength or Jesus’ strength.
There is one more scripture for us to read before we close today, and it is Proverbs 14:1:
“Every wise woman builds her house: but the foolish plucks it down with her hands.”
Now it says woman here, but this is for both men and women, all of us. Look at what it says… The foolish pluck down the house with their hands, but notice that it never says that the wise build the house with their hands. Resting in the finished work of Christ as Jesus taught, will add everything to us, but it’s when we stop resting in Him and trusting in our own strength and efforts that we will pluck everything down to ruin.
I encourage you today my friends, trust in Christ, realize that you have a Father God who loves you and is well able and willing to provide for your every need… let Him do it. Stop trying to handle everything yourself, and release to His care and love. To do so is the wisdom of rest in the finished work of Christ.
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