Come to Me… —Matthew 11:28
{CHAMBERS} “Our Lord’s words are not, “Do this, or don’t do that,”
but— “Come to me.” If I will simply come to Jesus, my real life will be brought
into harmony with my real desires. […] Have
you ever come to Jesus? Look at the stubbornness of your heart. You would
rather do anything than this one simple childlike thing— “Come to Me.” […] Personal contact with Jesus changes
everything. Be “foolish” enough to come and commit yourself to what He says.
The attitude necessary for you to come to Him is one where your will has made
the determination to let go of everything and deliberately commit it all to
Him. “…and I will give you rest”— that is, “I will sustain you, causing you to
stand firm.””
{ELGIN} I appreciate most of
the contemporary Christian music, but there is much to be said for the “old”
hymns … like this one. Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. “O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light
in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the Savior, And life more
abundant and free! Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And
the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and
grace.” The message is simple and clear.
I thought about this song as I read Chambers’ devotion this morning. When we are going our own way the last thing
we want to do is see Jesus. It’s like being
in a place where you should not be or doing something you should not do and your
parents show up. We don’t want a reminder that where we are or what we are
doing is not right. Sin loves the
darkness. Or perhaps you are struggling
with a life issue and you have retreated within yourself. Look to Jesus. Jesus is the answer and He is the
source. In Jesus we have peace. I saw a bumper sticker that said “No Jesus No
Peace – Know Jesus Know Peace” (I love
the English language – No and Know are homonyms if anyone was wondering)
So what does it mean to look
to Jesus? Glad you asked! Step 1
is to stop looking at yourself and your ability to resist temptation or bear
the weight of the problems you face. Step 2 is to trust that the Word is
true. Not merely acknowledge that it is true but to rest on that truth and not
your or your culture’s wisdom and re-defined truth. Step 3 is to
focus on Jesus in prayer … seek Him out in the Word … you have two natures ..
the old and the new .. one is carnal the other is spiritual. Jesus is offering a spiritual solution to carnal
circumstances. It doesn’t mean that the
circumstance will go away .. it means that your perspective on the circumstance
and how it affects you will change. But
what if you are like the man who asked Jesus to help him with his unbelief. Believe it or not there are other Christians
that the Lord has brought into your life that can come along side you. (Ecclesiastes
4:9-12) “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their
labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone
who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they
will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be
overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly
broken.”
I am not suggesting that you
turn to another person who is drowning along with you. I can’t help but smile when I hear teenagers
tell each other, “I am here for you!” It is well intentioned, but the truth is
that most likely all they can do is encourage each other as they go down for
the third time. No – you need to seek
out someone who a strong swimmer – like a life guard – someone who is spiritually
mature – not necessarily the pastor or counsellor, but it may be them – but someone
who has spiritual wisdom – who is unwavering in their faith. God has brought those people are around but
you have to look in the right places. My
opinion, but Facebook is not the best way to find them. Pray about it and God will bring them to mind.
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