Two Invitations

‘Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28)

​Notice the first word in this verse - ‘Come’.

It is an instruction as well as an invitation and it looks for a response from us. There are some things that will never happen for us spiritually unless we come. It reminds me of the story of the prodigal son. He got to the place where he said ‘ I will arise and go to my father’. When he did that, his father ran to meet him and everything began to change. 
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In the verse we are looking at today it is the same - if we come to Christ (for He is the speaker) we will find rest. There is a calmness in Christ and there is something in His Presence that brings rest and soothing into our souls. How often do we come? Just in a crisis? Surely it is a good thing to come much more often that that.  Perhaps at the end of each day - to lay down the burdens of the day at His feet and to find that our weariness goes as we draw strength from Him, just by being where He is.

'Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in and sup with him and he with me' (Revelation 3:20)

​This is different. In the first verse, it is our need that draws us to Christ. In this verse we must be listening for Him and ready to respond to His knock. The words were spoken by Christ to His church - to those who already knew Him as Saviour. One translation of the final part of the verse is ‘ and we will share a meal together as friends’. The verse speaks of an intimacy of relationship with Him, a communion between our soul and the Lord Jesus.

Have we progressed from the first invitation to the second? There will always be times when our need drives us to Him but there should be many other times when we are listening for the knock on the door of our hearts and want to be in His Presence simply because He is our Beloved and our Friend.

Jennifer Jack