Our theme for this month: “Taking care of your soul”
Our Bible verse for today: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “The soul craves rest and renewal.”
In his book “Soul Keeping”, John Ortberg tells the story of a busy and self-important American traveler who was visiting remote regions of Africa. Although she wanted to see the countryside, she also wanted to make the journey quick and efficient. So she hired a group of local village men to be carriers and guides for her and off she went. The first day she pushed and pressured and urged the men to move quickly and to cover great distances. And they did. At the end of the day she was very pleased with how far and how fast they had traveled. However the next day she couldn’t get the village men to budge at all. They refused to even leave the campsite. In exasperation she demanded to know why. They patiently explained to her that on the first day they had traveled too far and too fast, and now they needed to wait for their souls to catch up.
Ouch. That sounds like my life. Do I travel so far and so fast through every day that my soul has to hurry to catch up with me? How about you? Do you ever feel like you need to slow down, sit down, catch your breath, and just give your soul some time to catch up with your body?
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus invited us to do exactly that. It was His whole point. We rush through life burdened and anxious to the point that our soul gets weary. Jesus knows this and so He invites us to come to Him, just sit and rest and enjoy His company while He ministers to and nurtures that weary soul of ours.
It’s a compelling invitation and one that we need to accept. The truth is that the soul does get weary and it does get far too burdened. The image of a huffing and puffing soul rushing to keep up with a frantic and anxious body is humorous and yet sadly accurate. The soul craves rest and renewal. I encourage you to carve out some extra time this weekend to rest in the Lord.
God Bless,
Oak Hill Baptist Church 