Finding Rest - Pt 2

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” (John 6:29-34 ESV).

The second principle in finding rest is in the releasing of our burdens. Our problems are not a surprise to God. When we try to make things happen and work in the flesh to vindicate ourselves or promote ourselves we will end up in trouble. We can lean on God and find the rest in Him. We can enjoy life no matter what is going on. Worrying is useless and will cause more stress in the mind and body. Don't wear yourself out by trying to control what you can't anymore. The bottom line is that you are being counterproductive when you enter into this type of negative cycle. It’s like sitting in a rocking chair, rocking all day, wearing yourself out, and getting nowhere. Trusting God means we give up worrying, reasoning, and anxiety and we enter into His rest with simple childlike faith; we live by grace through faith. Jesus knows that he only is our salvation, our fortress, our mighty rock, our refuge. He is the one answer to every question, concern, fear, and need we will ever have. And so he simply and comprehensively offers us himself. For our hope is from him. Only in him will we find rest for our souls. But if what he promises us is rest, isn’t there something we must do? Yesterday we saw Jesus say we must put on a “yoke” with him. A yoke is placed on a beast of burden in order to do some work. So what is the “doing”? Jesus answered this question in our reading today. We must believe and abide. That really is all the work God requires of us. Faith (believing and abiding) is resting on the hopeful promises of God. That is the yoke Jesus calls us to put on. What is happening here is a yoke-exchange. In the cross, Jesus takes our unbearably heavy yoke of sin’s condemnation and penalty, and offers us in exchange the easy yoke and light burden of simply trusting him. He does all the work and gives us all the rest. And his work not only fully addresses our sin problem, but also provides the supply of every other need we will ever have (cf. Philippians 4:19). All we are required to do is trust him! And if that wasn’t enough, in becoming human and dwelling among us, Jesus makes it possible for us to learn from him how to live by faith. That’s the light yoke Jesus calls us to put on. It is the only yoke in existence that gives us rest for our souls.