Matthew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Busy, busy, busy. The modern man is always busy. Not just doing one thing at a time, and being satisfied therein; no, now he must be doing many things at a time without pause, without stop, without wait, and without hesitation or contemplation of reason.
To stand still is considered a waste. To be still is considered wasteful. To ‘be’ without ‘doing’ is considered a crime against humanity. “Idol hands are the devils work”, goes the saying. “Any person who is not productive is of no value”, cries out the corporation mantra. And the church world echoes back, “Give us your time as volunteers, the days are short”. “I multitask!,” cries out the perfectionist. And all these cries, and many more that could be easily expressed in a moments notice.
Are any of these cries wholly wrong, sinfully incorrect, or intellectually illogical? Absolutely not; well, maybe the ‘devil’s work’ one might be; after all, there are many busy hands doing the devil’s work. To be busy is honorable. To be busy is success. To be busy is very ‘righteous’. And yet . . .
For all that business, we are all so tired! Depression is an increasing ‘disease’ of society. Suicides are up. Divorces are up. Murders are up. People wig out at a moments notice. Now, STRESS is classified as a killer! What is wrong with all this works oriented, driven reasoning? Shouldn’t it produce a feeling of LIFE? Sadly, no. There can only be one source of true LIFE; eternal life. And that source is the one who said to all the tired busy people of his day: COME UNTO ME!
Martha was honorable. Mary was honored of the Lord. Paul was considered the best Apostle of all; yet, John is the one of whom it is said, ‘Him whom Jesus Loved’. Solomon was busiest of all, but his father David was called, ‘a man after mine own heart’; the psalmist is greater than ‘the preacher’.
Please, reconsider your priorities. Labor is good. But never forget to add to your labors the following item: Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest…. (Hebrews 4:11)
Original Copyright: © Anthony J. Massotti Th.M., Th.M. 3/28/2004