“Come! Come to me everyone who’s worn out from work and weighed down with worries. I will give you rest” (Matthew 11.28).
I have a terrible habit of leaving all my vacation time until the end of the year. For the past four years (at least) I have sworn to myself that in the upcoming year I wouldn’t do this again. And, of course, each year I’ve done the same: I’m cramming all my days off into the last three months of the year.
It isn’t because work is busy. It is, but there’s no real time when it’s not busy; so, my excuse is not that I’m waiting on things to slow down. No, I just get in a habit of working, day after day, and think that I’ll take some time later. I’ll take some time when the weather is nice. I’ll take a day when I can think of something fun to do.
This isn’t good for me. I know that if I’d take time here and there, I’d be more rested and be not just a more productive worker but a happier person. Not to mention it’s a lot easier to be refreshed by a day or two when you’re taking them regularly instead of cramming months of rest into them.
Rest, even in days off from work, can be hard to come by. The word Jesus uses here isn’t just about sleep or catching your breath, it’s about refreshment. It’s about filling back up when you’re running empty. It’s when you let go of the work and the worries that weigh upon you.
This may be exactly what many of you don’t want to hear right now. It’s drawing close to Thanksgiving, which is a time of enjoyment and being with those we love. But, it can be far from restful with houseguests and dinners to plan and cook, rooms to clean, and…well the stress that can come from family.
Jesus, it’s important to note, isn’t just offering us a spot on the couch where we can curl up and read a book; though, there’s nothing that says that can’t be a part of it. No, the offer here is like water after a long day of working in the yard. It’s a feeling of the fatigue, the weakness, the weariness lifting off of you.
This rest isn’t like a trip to the beach or the mountains where we get away knowing all the work and worries will be waiting when we get home. This is rest that makes the work less exhausting, and lifts the worries from our shoulders. It is the knowledge that what we have done is enough, that we are enough.
It’s knowing that everything does not depend upon us and allowing ourselves to enjoy the moments we have been given and with those we share those moments. It’s a little taste of the freedom that comes when we find we don’t have to carry the work and the burdens alone.
It’s when our hearts are able to give thanks.
Jesus, for these next few days may I know all that I am and all that I’ve done is enough.