Come to Me ...and I will give you rest

 Come to Me.

This is an open invitation to all of us - all who believe that God is God; all who are weary and heavy laden; all who are so tired of being tired; all who live and breathe are invited to COME.  

These days, we don't have many invitations that are open.  In this era of social distancing and pandemic hysteria we have more cancellations than anything else.  No-one really wants to have company over for fear of finding themselves having an unwanted guest trying to move in permanently - that dreaded virus and his friends.

However, Jesus, when he extended that invitation in Matthew 11:28 is not cancelling on us.  His door remains open and His arms are strong enough to hold you up.  Come.  That word is also a command.  It really does require a response.  You and I need to decide if we will move towards Him.  To move from our place of unrest into Him that is our rest.

To Me.  I love that Jesus was not sending us to anyone else.  He offers Himself as the source that is unlimited.  He is the very thing we need - REST.  He says "I will give you rest"  and we can trust Him to do just that for us.  

We can echo David, as he wrote My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation is from Him..  He alone is my rock and my salvation.  I will never be shaken.  (Psalm 62 - paraphrased).

So, say yes to the invitation.  He will give you rest.

2021 STARTING POINT: WHAT IS YOUR INTENTION?

What is your intention for 2021?  No, not a new year's resolution that we make with no "intention" of keeping.  Be honest with yourself if not me today.  You know the ones we make every year and we never actually follow through with them - lose weight, read the bible cover to cover, be more intentional in building relationship with so and so.  Shall I go on?  Instead of rewording the same list from the year before, I am asking you to dig deeper and to pray harder. 

This week, the golden text for devotion was based on Proverbs 17:3 which says "the refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord test the heart".  

As I thought about this verse I realize that God, through his refiner's fire, intends to draw out the impurities in our lives.  He stands at the mouth of the furnace, as Spurgeon says, and carefully tends to us, skimming away the dross. He intends for us to be like pure gold that can only be achieved through heated flames.  The hotter the fire, the purer the gold.  

You may ask, what does this have to do with "my intentions"?  In the midst of trials and testing we may be tempted to give up.  We don't like to experience hardships or to endure anything that will stretch us to the limit.  However, as we set our intentions out before the Lord, who directs our paths, we know that there will be testing.  We do not want to deceive ourselves into thinking other wise.  The encouragement is to understand that God is the one testing and God is the one that is helping us to pass the test.  Hallelujah! 

Job says after he has tested me I will come forth as pure gold (Job 23).  After we have suffered for a little while, the God of grace...will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. (1 Peter 5:10, NASB).  It's the Lord.  Your intentions are known to Him as He knows your heart and He is faithful to help you.  As we are tested and refined, what happens is that our intentions become what His intentions were for us all along.  Somewhere along the line we become aligned to Him and can truly say Not my will but thy will be done in and through me.

So, get out the pen pencil and whatever paper you can.  Ask God to test your heart and reveal to you His intentions for you in 2021.