It’s vacation season and my wife and I have just returned from a two-week camping trip in the Ozarks. Years ago, an older man once told me, “You always need to take two weeks of vacation because it takes most of the first week to unwind and you won’t get rested and refreshed.” Well, I’ve found that he’s right, and though I haven’t always followed that wisdom, I tried this time. All I had planned were relaxing camping, short visits with a couple of friends who moved to that area, and some fishing. I’ve heard enough people say they needed rest from their vacation to know better than to plan too much. Furthermore, my wife always tells me I don’t know how to relax (she’s right, but don’t tell her).
As you can guess, I didn’t rest very well, so I reflected a bit on the life of Jesus. I saw a couple lessons on rest that we all could use in our fast-paced busy culture. First, Jesus recognized the importance of rest. After the disciples returned from the ministry assignment He had given them we read, “And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while. (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) 32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.” (Mark 6:31—32, NASB95). It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of what we’re doing, to not want to miss something, or to think we’re too important to rest. None of these are good reasons to not take time to get away and rest; we all need it.
Secondly, there’s an inner rest that’s important. We’ve all had physically exhausting days, the kind that at the end you want to collapse into your bed and fall asleep. Or felt the mental or emotional exhaustion that requires a break from people or circumstances. But soul rest is different. Jesus said, ““Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28—29).
What’s a weary soul? The context is the burden of the rules the religious leaders imposed on the people. They heaped another burden on the already heavy burden of feeling alienation from God for their sin. Trying to earn forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation is a weight that no one can bear, for it is relentless, and impossible. I remember the day that the weight of my sin was so heavy on my soul that I knew I had to find relief.
Christ could promise rest because He offered Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice to take the guilt of our sin. Peter said it this way, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;” (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus promised rest from not only eternal separation but also rest from the stress of daily life without connection to God.
Have you gained rest for your soul? It’s as simple as going to Christ in all sincerity and placing your faith in His sacrifice for your sin. Vacations are good and valuable, but nothing like rest for the soul.
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Dan Krahenbuhl is pastor of Monroe Bible Church.
