Come

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Jesus says “Come.” He invites us to Himself.  It’s our choice.  He doesn’t force us.  He wants us to come to Him willingly because we want to. He calls out to all and whosoever. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) Isaiah prophesied about the Lord’s call to come and receive the free gift of salvation. “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55:1) Jesus offers an invaluable gift that cannot be bought with all the money in the world or gained through any effort or sacrifice. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17) Jesus is still calling man to Himself as He did when He walked the earth. “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.” (John 7:37)

There is no sin too great and no impossibility of receiving when we come to Jesus. “To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10:43) In Jesus and His shed blood there is a cancellation and a repeal of our sins, complete forgiveness.  The sacrifice of Jesus was sufficient and enough to cleanse the sin of all man who ever lived, who lives and will live. We stand before the Father as if we never sinned. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” (Colossians 1:14) Jesus has saved us from ourselves, our destiny in the way of destruction. “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)

What things have wearied us?  We have tried to control the things we cannot control. When we give them to Jesus, we can rest. “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) When things are out of control and out of our control we can rest that when they are in the hands of Jesus Who is not the author of confusion, but peace, will give us peace about it. (1 Corinthians 14:33) In the midst of the storm, we will be kept safe and sound. With Him we can weather the chaos and destruction around us. But it won’t touch us.

The guilt of sin and its penalty is too much for us to carry.  This was the headline news in USA TODAY on November 29, 2023: “US Suicide Rate reaches Highest Point in More Than 80 years.” There was worldwide destruction because of WWII and first time rationing in the US in 1943. But it’s not the circumstances of the world that cause people to take their own lives, but a hopelessness that they cannot bear because they don’t know there is a Heavenly Father Who loves them and waits with open arms to forgive them of all their guilt. They don’t know that the Lord Jesus has already paid that price and that they don’t have to carry that guilt. Yes, we hear of all the reasons that people think is the reason for suicide.  But it all comes down to guilt for sin; financial problems, divorce, rejection, low self-esteem.

When we realize we cannot live anymore the way we are living, when we see the destruction we’ve made of our lives, when we understand that we cannot fix our lives because we are sinners before God and learn of God’s marvelous free gift of forgiveness and repent and submit to the Lord of Lords, Jesus, we will find that rest that we seek and need.  It’s in Jesus and only in Jesus. And He is saying, “Come to me.”