You cannot improve on the work of God for it is He who meets every need and satisfies fully, but how do you explain it to others? I think it is weariness that makes the words of the Carpenter so compelling. Listen to them. "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." We look back as post-resurrection believers and loose some of the strength of Jesus' invitation. He is offering the invitation as a penniless rabbi in an oppressed nation. He has no political office, no connections with the authorities in Rome. He hasn't written a bestseller or earned a diploma from the Hebrew seminary. How could this builder of furniture possibly give anyone "the gift of rest?"
Yet, Jesus dares to look into the faces of farmers, shepherds, day workers, and housewives and offer rest. He looks into the disillusioned eyes of a group of young preachers up from Jerusalem. He gazes into the cynical stare of a banker and the hungry heart of the local liquor store owner and makes this paradoxical promise: "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls." And the people came. They came out of the cul-de-sacs and office complexes of their day. They emptied the marketplace and left their homes. The people brought him the burdens of their existence and He gave them, not religion, not doctrine, not systems, but rest. As a result, they called Him "Lord." As a result, they called Him "Savior." Jesus was the only man to walk God's earth who claimed to have an answer for man's burden. "Come to Me!" He invited them. My prayer is that you, too, will find rest. Shalom