Daily Devotions
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Jesus places a yoke of discipleship on each of His followers. His own road to Calvary involved many burdens and trials, but He bore them willingly. He candidly told His followers that they also would experience crosses in their lives. John the Baptist’s imprisonment and death for exposing King Herod’s sin witnessed to the cost of discipleship.
But Jesus never asks for anything He does not freely bestow. He offers a most comforting invitation to struggling disciples, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” “Come to Me.” All sins and failures are covered by His sacrificial death. “All you who are weary and burdened.” He has already shouldered our burdens. He understands them, and He cares about us. He puts His arms around us and comforts us. “And I will give you rest.” We don’t deserve rest. But He gives us rest nevertheless. Peace in His forgiveness. Shelter form the storms of life. Quiet meditation on His promises. Rest for today and the promise of that eternal rest which belongs to the people of God.
The discipleship goes on with the yoke of obedience shouldered. But He makes our yoke easy and our burden light (Matthew 11:30), because of His death and resurrection. He gives rest to our souls. Come for rest!
PRAYER: I come to You, Lord Jesus, for rest from the burdens of the day, and for the eternal rest You give through Your death and resurrection. Amen.
(Devotions from “My Daily Devotion” by Dr. Stephen J. Carter, copyright 1988 CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend. For ordering information, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit www.cph.org.)