Jesus Alone Gives Us Rest – Family Devotion – July 20, 2020

Read: Matthew 11:25-30

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus Alone Gives Us Rest

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“I don’t wanna! No! I’m not going to go to bed!” Little Gwendolyn insisted on staying awake as tears streamed down her face. “No bedtime! I’m a big girl!” she shouted to the front from her car seat in back.

What Gwendolyn didn’t realize was that she was exhausted. She had been at preschool all day. She had a quick mac ‘n’ cheese cup in the van, and she just completed a long gymnastics practice. It actually was already 30 minutes past her normal bedtime.

Sure enough, by the time mom pulled into the driveway, she looked in the mirror and saw Gwendolyn’s head drooped over fast asleep in her car seat and drooling on her lap. Nothing was going to feel as good as mom putting her into her cozy bed with her fuzzy pillows and stuffed animals!

Have you felt tired lately? If you are a student, you may be glad that it is summer break. School is tiring! But sometimes summer is, too. There can be lots of activities, practices, games, or busy family vacations. If you are an adult, maybe the frantic schedules of everyday life are wearing you down as well. After all, you are the one that has to drive to all those activities, practices, and games, and you are the one to plan those busy family vacations! On top of that, we are still trying to figure our way out of the many problems that have come to us all from the coronavirus. Maybe all of you have felt totally exhausted recently, so tired that you could just crash on your pillow and sleep like a cozy bear in happy hibernation!

Then again, sometimes it’s not just our bodies that are tired. Sometimes you may feel burdened by all the sins that you have committed. “Ah! I’ve done that again! I can’t believe I sinned again! When am I ever going to do things right?!”

Christian friends, do not worry! We all get tired physically and spiritually. But we have the perfect place to rest—in Jesus! No, Jesus will not offer you a soft pillow or a fuzzy blanket. Even better than that—Jesus allows you to rest in his loving arms. He invites you to come to him and find forgiveness for all your sin. He offers you the cozy peace of knowing God loves you dearly as his own child. And best of all, the comfort and rest of life in heaven is waiting for you as well. No matter how tired you may be, Jesus will always provide the rest that we need so much. So go to church, go to the Word, go to Jesus, and rest up!

Closing Prayer:

Dear Jesus, I am often very tired from the things that I do in this life as well as tired from the sins that I have done. Help me always to go to you to find true rest. Amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

• What things make you tired in life?
• Why would we call heaven a place of rest?

Questions for Elementary Age Children

• What does Jesus mean when he says we can find rest in him?
• Sabbath is a word that means rest. How does remembering the Sabbath Day (the Third Commandment) connect to finding rest in Jesus?

Questions for Middle School and Above

• Identify some of the other things that people look to for rest in this world. Explain why they will never offer us rest as good as the rest that Jesus offers.
• Jesus says today, “Come to me.” Identify all the ways that we can go to Jesus (or that he comes to us). Then discuss how we can work on having this kind of rest more often.

Hymn: CW 385:1,2 – Chief of Sinners Though I Be

Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed his blood for me,
Died that I might live on high, Lives that I might never die.
As the branch is to the vine, I am his and he is mine!

Oh, the height of Jesus’ love, Higher than the heav’ns above,
Deeper than the depths of sea, Lasting as eternity,
Love that found me—wondrous thought!—Found me when I sought him not.