Getting a Good Soul Rest
Text: Matthew 11:25-30
A crucial key to functioning at your best is getting good rest! In the same way to function at your best spiritually you need good rest. Yet our lives are so busy and hectic.
Is your soul rested? Has it caught up with your life? Or are you ignoring the signs? Symptoms of sleep loss: depression, apathy, irritability, and aggression. How many souls are living lives this way? A rested soul will be a refreshed soul! Ready to face the day and keep the faith!
You can find soul rest in Jesus! How?
1) Come to Jesus and receive soul rest:
V 28 - This is an invitation to have a come to Jesus meeting.
a) Can you recognize any soul unrest?
b) Do you see any erosion in your life? Time erodes our bodies so the culture can erode our soul. Is there cultural erosion? Falling into the traps of sin
c) Have you lost the bounce in your step? Are you feeling like it’s no use?
It’s time for a come to Jesus meeting!
ALL! This open invitation for rescue is for all people. “I will give you rest.”
A) John 4:14 - ”but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Drink the water for the soul! Satisfied-refreshed-renewed!
B) John 6:35 - Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
C) This is a promise! You will receive soul rest! You can carry on! Gal. 6:9 - Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. You will be rested! Isaiah 40:28-32:
Have a come to Jesus meeting; you will receive rest!!
Restless rest - in the same way the soul can’t find rest or relief or satisfaction. You’ve tried everything - taken up with the latest craze, yet still the soul can’t catch up! Cultural diversions-clubs, movies, etc.
2) Take up with Jesus and discover soul rest:
V29 - You make the decision that you are going to take up with Jesus.
A) His Yoke - His leadership and authority - Jesus truly is Lord and leader.
B) Learn from me - I’m one of his students - He is teacher and I am student! Yet he is a servant. Take up learning!
C) His heart - He is gentle and lowly - I take up with him and I learn about Jesus! I discover the winning way! Fisher of men!
He is not a task master but the master of grace!
D) I discover the servant heart! - The ruin of a church is the loss of a servant’s heart! I find Rest for my soul!! "easy and light living"
I am not alone! Jesus is my helper, my guide, my savior!
One day a man went by to see a farmer who was plowing his field with a team of oxen. The man noticed that one of the animals was seemingly a little bigger than the other, so he asked him about it. The response from the farmer was very interesting. He said that the big animal was an older animal that was well trained, and the smaller one was a young animal that was new to the yoke. The man went on to inquire about why he put them together, and this is the answer that he got:
“Well you see, it’s like this. That older ox is the best ox that I have ever had; he knows his way around the field. The reason I put the younger one with him is so the older, more knowledgeable ox could teach him how to plow. If I never put them together, the younger one would never learn. By himself, the younger ox would pull himself to death, but together he learns to cooperate with and rest in the strength of the older ox.”
Discover soul rest! The yoke is easy and the burden light because Jesus Christ, King of Kings, is with you! Teaching, guiding, and sharing the load!
Conclusion:
As a young man, Augustine journeyed through many countries in search of the meaning of life. He concluded, "Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our souls are restless until they find their rest in you."
So begins the path to spiritual fitness. Getting a good soul’s rest! Here is the invitation: Have your come to Jesus meeting! Take up with Jesus! You will receive and find soul rest! You will be one who respects and has God in there life. Many invitations carry an RSVP. Means Respond please. Respond today! Please! Accept the invitation to a life with a satisfied, rested soul! No more restless nights of doubt, grief, distress, anxiety, or the tossing and turning of restlessness. Respond please! Have soul rest and be spiritually fit!