Shalom

We read Matthew 11 today in our Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan. Look at verses 28-30:

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. KJV

The word "rest" here is the Greek word "anapano", which means: to repose; to refresh; to cease from labor in order to recover; to collect strength. The word "light" is the Greek word "elaphros", which means: light in weight; easy to bear. I like both the Amplified Bible and the Wuest translation for these verses:

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. 30 For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne. AMP

28-30 Come here to me, all who are growing weary to the point of exhaustion, and who have been loaded with burdens and are bending beneath their weight, and I alone will cause you to cease from your labor and take away your burdens and thus refresh you with rest. Take at once my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find cessation from labor and refreshment for your souls, for my yoke is mild and pleasant, and my load is light in weight. Wuest 

That is the state in which our Father desires for us to operate in on a continual basis! We SHOULD be the light in the darkness, the calm during a storm, a haven from the cares of the world, a resource for the answers to questions and for solutions to problems. Remember that YOU are the only Jesus that some people will ever see! Represent Him well by having intimate fellowship with Him on a daily basis and by being a DOER of the Word. As born again believers, THESE are our commandments directly from Jesus! Mark 12:30-31:

30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'  31  The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."  ESV

THIS is what we are most responsible for in our walk with HIM! Love HIM with everything within you, and then follow HIS leading to love others with that same love! AMEN! THAT is when we will experience the REAL rest that WE desire! AMEN! Here is Hillsong United with "Rhythms of Grace":

Shalom in Him!