sights in this world
(Arthur Pink, "The Rest of Christ")
"Come unto Me all you who labor
and are heavy laden--
and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11:28
"I will give you rest."
What a claim to make!
To impart rest of soul
to another, lies beyond the power
of the most exalted creature.
Neither Confucius, Buddha, nor
Mohammed ever made such
a claim as this!
As Christ is the only One
who can bestow rest of soul--
so there is no true rest to be
found apart from Him.
The creature cannot impart it.
The world cannot communicate it.
We ourselves cannot, by any efforts
of our own, manufacture it.
One of the most pathetic
sights in this world, is to behold
the unregenerate, vainly seeking
happiness and contentment
in the things of time and sense--
and finding that these are all
broken cisterns which can hold
no water. They are like the poor
woman mentioned in Mark 5:26, who
"had spent all she had,
yet instead of getting better--
she grew worse!"(Mark 5:26)
What is the nature of this "rest"
which Christ gives to all who truly
come to Him? It is a spiritual rest,
a satisfying rest, "rest for the soul"
as the Savior declares later
in this passage.
It is such a rest as this
world can neither give--
nor take away.
It is a rest from that vain
and wearisome quest, which
engages and absorbs the sinner,
before the Spirit of God opens
his eyes to see his folly--
and moves him to seek after
the true riches.
It is indeed pitiful--
to behold those who
are made for eternity--
wasting their time and
energies wandering
from object to object,
searching for that which
cannot satisfy them--
only to be vexed by repeated
and incessant disappointments.
And thus it is with all--
until they come to Christ,
for He has written over all
the pursuits and pleasures
of this world,
"Whoever drinks of this water--
shall thirst again!" (John 4:13)
Forcibly was that fact exemplified
by the case of Solomon, who
was provided with everything
which the carnal heart could desire,
and who gratified his lusts
to the full, only to find that,
"Behold, all of them are meaningless,
a chasing after the wind!" (Eccl. 1:14).
It is from this vexation of spirit,
that Christ delivers His people,
for He declares
"whoever drinks of the water
that I shall give him--
shall never thirst!" (John 4:14)
No comments:
Post a Comment