St. Matthew 11:28 KJV
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Let's look at the first part of this scripture. It says "Come to me." Jesus is telling you: "Come to me." He is not saying "Get your life in order then come to me. " Or "Stop sinning then come to me." Or "Get cleaned up and look nice before you come into my house or my presence." Jesus is not telling you to do a thing to yourself or your surroundings. He merely wants you to come. It is a wonderful invitation...you don't have to change a thing before you visit with Jesus. You don't have to dress up to look nice. You don't even have to try to pay for the sins you have committed (yes, you and everyone else (including me) has sinned and there is nothing we could ever do on our own to pay for our sins.)
"Come to me"
The next part of the scripture says "all of you that labor and are heavy laden." Jesus is inviting everyone who is struggling with sin, heavy with the guilt of sin and heavy with all burdens. Are you feeling guilty because of something you have said? Are you feeling guilty because of the course your thoughts have run? Are you feeling guilty because of something you have done? Have you had enough of feeling guilty? Are you tired of doing/saying/thinking the wrong thing and hurting yourself and others? Are you tired of carrying the burdens of hurts others have inflicted upon you? Then Jesus is speaking to you! Let's look at the last part of this scripture, shall we?
"Come to me, all of you that are tired of sinning and heavy with burdens and guilt."
The last part of this scripture is so wonderful in it's promise! Yes, you have a promise from Jesus! Here it is: "and I will give you rest." Jesus can help you to not sin. He can help you do what is right and just. Jesus can remove the guilt. He will even carry your burdens, all of them! Are you thinking, "Could this be? Will Jesus really do that for me?" The answer is "YES!" Now you ask, "How do you know for sure? How can you say that?" The answer: "I can say Jesus will do this for you because Jesus himself has said it! Jesus is pure and good and has never sinned. He cannot lie!" Since Jesus cannot lie, then you can believe His promise with all your heart! Now, you may be wondering, "Is there a catch?"
"Come to me, all of you that are tired of sinning and heavy with burdens and guilt and I will give you rest from those burdens and guilt."
In a way there is a catch...you have to give those burdens and guilt to Jesus! Yup, that's it! How is Jesus supposed to help you and carry them for you if you won't give them up? Don't be like a bag-lady, carrying your hurts, your guilt and grief, your troubles and sins with you! Why carry the weight of all that and feel horrible when Jesus is calling you to come to Him? He is saying, "Come as you are, give me your burdens and troubles and let me carry them so you may rest." How can you refuse this invitation? Don't think for one moment that Jesus doesn't want you...that you have done something so terrible that Jesus would want nothing to do with you. Take a look at this: Before Paul became a Christian, he used to go around killing those who loved and followed the example Jesus had set. Paul thought he was doing what was right. He killed so many Christians, yet Jesus wanted him to come. When Jesus was on the cross (though He did nothing to deserve this since He never sinned), the man on the cross next to Jesus decided to "come to" Jesus. Jesus told him that he would be with Jesus in heaven that day. Now this man must have committed some horrid crime to be on that cross, yet Jesus wanted that man to come to Him.
Don't do a thing, just come to Jesus, give Him your troubles, let Him carry your burdens, and you can rest.
