Loving God of comfort and peace, share a rich blessing with this dear reader in all they may face today. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text is from Matthew 11: 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
To a child, rest is something to be avoided at all costs. I chuckle when I see my grandchildren fight against the need for rest; they start to squirm, grimace, then cry and before too long they're asleep. I remember griping to my mom about having to take naps in the afternoon in my school. Now, those naps seem so delicious and too few and far between. Yes, rest is good (and the choir shouts: All the time!). What our Lord is saying here is that in Him we find the kind of rest that we need from the burdens we so often try to carry alone. The burden of guilt, sorrow, pain, sickness, regret, worry, anxiety, anger; on and on the list goes. The Lord knows we get nothing from carrying those, except our bodies do suffer the negative consequences. We become tired. Physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. That's the condition Jesus found in humans during His days on earth; human beings that had no remedy for the aches and pains they felt in their whole being, thus the words, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." You see, carrying around those things that are not good for us involve our having to work extra hard at carrying them as well as carrying on with our lives. The load is burdensome and the time comes when we seek and need rest. The rest is found when we deposit at the feet of Jesus everything that is causing our unrest and our restlessness. It's a matter of just saying, "Lord, I can't carry this anymore, here are those things that You need to remove from me."
What are you carrying around? Do you think those burdens make you look good? Do you think others will think the better of you because of your willingness to singlehandedly carry those things? Think again. Let today be the day you turn over everything to Jesus and receive from Him the rest your body, your mind, your feelings, and your spirit needs.
PRAYER: Loving God of unmeasureable strength, take off the burdens I have been trying to carry on my own all these days. Let me find in You right now the rest that I need, so that I can begin to do the work that You need me to do. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
Eradio Valverde
---From Bill Mauck of San Antonio who needs our prayers:
Greetings Eradio and family, Mon., Mar. 22, 2010
I want to let you know that I received a call from my brother Ted that our mother, Aletha Mauck, passed away to her eternal reward earlier this afternoon. Our good Lord has blessed us with a wonderful mother who lived 100 years. I will be flying to Tulsa tomorrow and then travel to Wichita to prepare for the memorial service and burial on Friday morning. I covet your prayers for my family. My sister-in-law's mother also passed away a couple of weeks ago in Chandler, Tx. at the age of 85 and I was able to attend her funeral. My sister-in-law Eva Lee Mauck is also scheduled to have hip surgery on March 30th.
Blessings from your brother in Christ, Bill Mauck
