This invitation from Jesus is still so relevant to us today… Rest is something we all need and which is essential to our balance. And yet it sometimes seems like a real struggle to know how to respond to this invitation from Christ. It is normal that we need rest on a regular basis because we were created in the image of God and God rested from the beginning of Creation (cf. Genesis 2: 2). God created everything, the sun, the moon, all the stars, animals, nature, the whole universe, etc ... But rest, the seventh day is also a Creation of God for us ...
When you realize that rest is something that God created, it changes your way of living it… First of all, it implies that you are called to enjoy it like everything else that God created because it is a gift that God gives us. Besides, God rested on the seventh day, not because He was tired, but He established a principle. Everything that lives needs rest on a regular basis, the seasons are an example for nature. Knowing how to live rest is something normal that God has given you and that you need to experience.
An important thing to understand is that rest is not an absence of activity… I'm sure you've already noticed that it is possible to be tired of doing nothing or that we can stop our activities for a certain time without being rested ... Rest is simply not doing what you do the rest of the time, the absence of work, to be in an attitude of gratitude for what has been done as well as know how to profit from the result. Resting is an activity in its own right which is centered on God.
In His invitation Jesus clearly says that rest is in Him, which means that there can be no true rest outside of His presence. It is the same thought when God speaks of Shabbat and asks His people for it to be a holy day (cf. Exodus 31:14). That is to say, a day that is set apart for Him, a day when we are centered on His presence in the recognition that it is through Him that we have done everything and the celebration of who He is to give back to Him. glory. Rest is found in our relationship with God.
This allows us not to be tired or loaded, because when we go into rest, we declare that everything is His, it is an exchange to receive His presence, His peace and His life ... If you read the rest of this text you will discover that rest is not a moment or a day, it is quite simply a way of living. To be with Him and to accomplish His works… If you need rest, it is enough to approach Jesus to abandon everything to Him and to live with and for Him…
God has blessed you richly so that you bless abundantly ...
Luke
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