He is our rest
Author
Faustino de Jesús Zamora Vargas
Summary: Christ is not a promise, but the fulfillment of the promise. To be in Christ is to inherit His promises. Instead of relying on Christ, we often carry our own burdens and try to solve them on our own. Religion demands promises, but our relationship with God should be based on trust and faithfulness. We must believe that Christ's yoke is easy and His burden is light, and we can deposit all our burdens in Him. We should keep ourselves in the love of God and eagerly await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. We can find rest in Him and meditate on the promise that He will never leave us or abandon us.
Christ does not promise. He is the promise. To be in Christ is to be a participant in his coming inheritance. We don't deserve it, but God was pleased to justify us by his Son through faith. We can rest in Him and we overlook Him; we bear loads and fight in our own strength to get rid of them.
Loads of bitterness, loads of disobedience, loads of folly, loads of sadness. We dragged a freight train. Far from putting Christ in the locomotive car, we try to take his place. And the burden grows heavier. We give Christ participation only on the religious level. And religion has nothing to do with our kinship and relationship with Jesus Christ.
Much prayer, but little spiritual communion; much Bible, but little obedience; a lot of passion, but little heart; much preaching, but testimony without consistent evidence. The religious world demands promises, the relationship with God lives on them and trusts that He is always faithful and fulfills what he has promised. You cannot live a Christian life piecemeal. Either we are in Christ or we continue to live off the waste of the world and see ourselves as filthy rags. Did Christ die for me so that I could carry the heavy package of religiosity, or for salvation and deliverance?
"Because my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Mt 11.30). You have to believe it. We can join with Him, tie ourselves to His yoke, and let Him take care of the burdens. His yoke is not only easy. It is also a seat of mercies and an immensely great firmament of mercy and goodness. It is difficult to experience the fullness in Christ with a religious veil over our eyes. The fullness in Christ is abundance and security, religion will never fill the cup of grace that will supply our needs.
Whatever your burden, you can deposit it in Christ. None resists God's forgiveness and mercy. None is too burdensome for the one who endured the nails out of obedience and love. Do not exert yourself in your struggles, the battle is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6.12). By putting your burden on Christ, you will find rest; fears will subside. A single tear from Jesus can ease the pain of your Gethsemane. Calvaries come into our lives so that we can see the glory of God. They are needed. Necessary to grow in faith; necessary to appreciate the incomparable gift of grace.
Give a brother a little bit of your burdens. There are angels around you willing to share them because they are messengers of God's mercy. Love moves mountains. The Word exhorts: “… keep yourselves in the love of God, eagerly awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life” (Jude 21).
Rest, rest on His shoulder. The yoke of the Lord will compensate for your regrets, your fears and troubles. His love covers all that and much more. Meditate on this promise of eternal dimension: “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you ”(Hebrews 13.5b).
God bless you!