April 24
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light,” Matthew 11:28-30.
Perhaps you have seen a picture or a carving or a statue of Jesus standing with outstretched arms, inviting and calling, “Come to Me!” It is the gentle, loving Jesus who is extending this invitation. He demonstrated His gentleness and His love throughout the three years of His public ministry on earth. As He came into contact with people, He responded to their bodily and spiritual needs. He healed the sick, and He enabled the lame to walk, the blind to see, and the deaf to hear. He cleansed the lepers and raised the dead. He did not turn His back on those who came crying and calling for help. He helped thousands who were laboring under heavy physical burdens.
Today, that same gentle, loving Jesus invites people with all of their hurts and heartaches, with all of their problems and difficulties, whatever it might be, to come to Him for help. Through the words of the psalmist, He invites, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble,” and He promises, “I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me,” Psalm 50:15. In the Sermon on the Mount, the gentle, loving Jesus invites and promises, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened,” Matthew 7:7-8.
However, the Savior’s gracious invitation is not only for our physical and temporal needs and desires. His invitation to come to Him is also for our spiritual needs. He promises us rest not only for our bodies but also for our souls. We labor and are heavy laden with many sins; He invites us to come to Him for the assurance of forgiveness. Lift up your eyes and see your gentle, loving Savior with outstretched arms, inviting and calling, “Come to Me . . . and you will find rest for your souls.”
Those same arms that are extended with the invitation, “Come!” were extended and nailed on Calvary’s cross to redeem us. From that cross comes the message of forgiveness. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do,” Luke 23:34. Yes, from that cross, the gentle, loving, suffering Savior said, “It is finished!” John 19:30. He completed everything that was necessary for our salvation.
He had lived the perfect life and fulfilled all the Commandments in our place. Then He took our sins upon Himself and paid the price for our redemption at Calvary. He came forth from the open, empty grave, and as the Victor over sin, death, and the devil, He extends His inviting arms and says, “Come to Me!” Come to Him. Believe and trust in Him as God’s Son and your Savior and you are promised eternal life. Out of thanksgiving for what He has done, you will live the Christian life, and see that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
We pray:
The Savior calls; let ev’ry ear, attend the heav’nly sound.
Ye doubting souls, dismiss your fear; hope smiles reviving round.
Ye sinners, come, ‘tis Mercy’s voice, the gracious call obey;
Mercy invites to heav’nly joys, and can you yet delay?
Dear Savior, draw reluctant hearts; to Thee let sinners fly,
And take the bliss Thy love imparts, and drink and never die.
Amen.