Come to Me All Who Are Weary

Jared Witt   |   March 11, 2020

“At that time, Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children…Come to me, all who are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’” 
- Matthew 11:25-30
 
“Come to me all who are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
 
“Come to me all who are burdened with fear. Your jittery nervousness has become an end in itself. Your anxiety thinks its protecting you. It almost doesn’t matter whether it’s this virus or that terrorist group. You’ll always have a cause to plug and play. Some explanation to make sense of a still more frightening reality: your fear has taken on a life of its own. It sustains itself and feeds itself. You’re no longer in charge. Fear is in the control room and running amok. Come lose your life with me, and you’ll have nothing left to fear.

“Come to me all who have grown weary of their own personas and their own schtick. The well-rehearsed jokes to get a laugh at a dinner party. The self-promotion that not even you believe. The fear of abandonment that ends up driving people away. The fear of being abused that ends up abusing. The pride and the envy. The insecurities and defense mechanisms. The lustful fantasies whenever life isn’t good enough. The white knuckled clinging whenever it is. Come receive a new identity. One that is really you.
 
“Come to me all who are burnt out and exhausted. Who work all day and remember not why. Whose faith in the market has once again come crashing down. Why are you surprised whenever false gods abandon you? That’s what they do. Anyway, who cares? Living with failure looks quite tolerable compared to exhausting rat race which you call success. Come ready to worship, and I’ll show you someone worth worshipping.
 
“Come to me all who feel trapped by their past. Whose anger is a cheap substitute for healing. Whose regret is a stand-in for growth. Who identify with past hurts. Who are in love with their melancholy. Whose attention is dominated by unending ‘what ifs’—the cinematic replaying of this wrong turn and that. Come walk with me, and we’ll go someplace better than where you used to be.
 
“Come to me all you religious. Who no longer feel the fire of existence. The livingness of life. Who settle for lighting a candle to this denomination or that philosophy. Who meticulously strive to get their ideas right about the ‘great god fact.’ Who substitute their beliefs for living water. Their books for the tree of life. Come forget your doctrines of being, and together we will just be.
 
“Come to me, all who are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

Cheers and Peace,

Jared