A Place of Rest, Realization, Revelation and Relationship

This morning I felt directed to Matthew's Gospel and the following verses - Matthew 11:27-30 NIV:

[27] “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

[28] “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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. [30] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

First, a word about my reading schedule.  I believe that the Lord greatly desires to communicate with me daily, so I always ask Him, in prayer, where I should read.  Sometimes I hear in my mind specific verses (book, chapter, verse), sometimes page numbers, sometimes I just open my Bible and start reading, but I am always expecting the Lord to speak out of His Word.  Sometimes, He will have me read through a book, working verse by verse, chapter by chapter, other times it will be more along a particular theme.  Regardless of the flow, I expect that the Lord will speak every day, because His Words are life and light to me.  I believe the Lord wants to speak to all of us, with equal passion and intimacy.

Secondly, the verses today speak about the Lord's heart in His communication to us.  He is revealing the Father (verse 27) and teaching us (verse 29).  For this to occur we only need to come to Him and let Him guide us to a place of rest.  I find it is much more difficult to hear the Lord during the hustle and bustle of my daily life of work and life.  That is why I spend time each morning coming before Him, and taking time to rest, listen and read.  It is in those times that the Lord speaks the most clearly and consistently.  As I have learned to hear His voice in these times of quiet, I have been better able to hear Him throughout the day, as well.  My times with Him are not primarly spent in passionate prayer through lists of names and issues, beseeching Him for answers and needs, but rather in listening and conversing from my heart, learning who He is and what He has to say to me.  My relationship is not one of works and effort, but one of deep interaction and affection.

I  love verses 28 & 29 for that is how I experience Him daily.  He frees me from the effort of religion and brings me into the rest of relationship.  As we spend time, I am able to unburden myself, entrusting my concerns to Him, gaining His perspective and direction.  As I do so, I realize that there has been an exchange of burdens, for I am guided into His concerns and direction, and my concerns have been lifted.  Intimate relationship with the Lord is a wonderful thing, and something He desires for all of us.  We are each significant to Him, and as such, He will continue to invite us to this place of rest, realization and revelation through relationship.

Finally, it is in this place of relationship that He reveals the Father to me.  As I have quoted many times before, Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father (Heb 1:3) and as I come to know Him, I come to know the Father.  The significance of our interactions is that He has chosen to reveal the Father to me (verse 27).  If the Lord desires relationship with me, than so does the Father.  I am so aware of my absolute unworthiness to have relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father, and yet I recognize that they have chosen me, as one with whom they want relationship.  That is just mind-blowing!  Sometimes we can feel that we have to earn this choice, or work hard to be noticed by the Lord, but that just isn't true.  The Lord chose me while I was still a sinner and unaware of Him, thinking only of myself (Rom 5:8 and 1 Thess 1:4).  If He chose me before I even knew Him while I was still a sinner, what makes me think that now that I know Him, He will load me up with requirements for relationship?

So let us be encouraged that the Lord loves us, has chosen us and wants relationship with us.  We can go to Him and He will meet with us, give us rest, teach us and reveal the Father to us.

Amen!