Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

The Lord wants us to come into His presence for rest.

Today’s scripture, Mark 6:30-32 (NLT)…
[30] The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. [31] Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. [32] So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.

Consider…
Sunday, in his ‘Rethinking Rest’ sermon, Jonathan Josephs pointed out from today’s scripture that rest is found in Jesus’ presence.

Jesus Himself affirms that truth in Matthew 11:28 (NLT)…
[28] Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

That makes me ponder we will…

• go to bed to rest
• go on vacation to rest
• go to a spa to rest

…but we seldom go to God to rest.

Indeed we usually go to God to get something to keep going, but He offers REST.

Renewing our
Eternal
Strength by
Tethering ourselves to Jesus

Psalms 23:2-3 (NLT) testifies…
[2] He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. [3] He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.

You see, when we remain tethered to The Good Shepherd, we experience His strength renewal to continue obeying and glorifying Him.

The Holy Spirit took this opportunity to remind me that many people’s favorite verse, Philippians 4:13 (NLT), testifies…
[13] For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Our strength to do everything comes from Christ.

As soon as I began to understand that truth, the Holy Spirit led me back to the ‘rest’ of Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:29-30 (NLT)…
[29] Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

According to Oxford Languages a yoke is a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull.

That definition is important because if you pay close attention to what Jesus said, He told us to take His yoke. Here’s the unspoken blessing, Jesus doesn’t need our help to do anything, yet He invites us to tag along as He does the heavy lifting.

Being yoked to Jesus looks like a two year pushing a basket in Walmart with their guardian.

So as we go through this life doing God’s will, we can find rest pushing the cart like the two year old with Jesus.

The last thought today on finding rest with God is a word association with peace.

Isaiah 26:3 (NLT) promises…
[3] You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

When I think of peace, I envision a restful place and experience. It reminds me of Mark 4:38-40 NIV
[38] Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” [39] He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. [40] He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Notice, Jesus was asleep, or at peace despite the storm raging around Him. He paid the storm no attention because He was at rest. The disciples, like us, on the other hand focused on the storm and began to fear, despite seeing Jesus resting.

Could it be that if we God chilling in our storms that it’s because He wants us to rest in the faith that He’s with us and isn’t worried about what’s going on around us.

Today the Lord is encouraging us to do less requesting from Him, and more resting in Him!

Today’s song is…
Rest

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)