Come To Me

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

CHRISTIANITY IS RADICALLY different from every other religion in the world. In every religion, a teacher (or series of teachers) prescribes certain paths to follow to honor God (or different gods) and experience salvation (however that is described).

Hindus believe that the path to remission of sins and liberation from the cycle of life and death is paved through homage to the goddess Ganga, represented by the Ganges River. In Islam, Muhammad pointed in the Koran to five pillars for Muslims to practice. In Buddhism, the Buddha’s eightfold path is just one of four noble truths that he taught, alongside hundreds of other rules for Buddhists to follow. In Sikhism, ten gurus have pointed to one body of teaching as the way to truth and life.

But this is where Christianity stands alone. When Jesus came on the scene in human history and began calling followers to himself, he did not say, “Follow certain rules. Observe specific regulations. Perform ritual duties. Pursue a particular path.” Instead, he said, “Follow me.”^a With these two simple words, Jesus made clear that his primary purpose was not to instruct his disciples in a prescribed religion; his primary purpose was to invite his disciples into a personal relationship with him. He was not saying, “Go this way to find truth and life.” Instead, he was saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”^b The call of Jesus was, “Come to me. Find rest for your souls in me. Find joy in your heart from me. Find meaning in your life through me.”

This extremely shocking and utterly revolutionary call is the essence of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus: We are not called to simply believe certain points or observe certain practices, but ultimately to cling to the person of Jesus as life itself.

No matter how many times we wash our bodies in a river or pray according to procedure; regardless of how many steps we take down a path or how many needy people we help; and despite our most passionate attempts to pray the right prayers, repeat the right words, sing the right songs, give the right gifts, and live the right lives, we cannot cover up the evil that is so deeply entrenched within our hearts. Our greatest need is not to do more or try harder. Our greatest need is a new heart.

Pray that God would give you confidence and assurance as you rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ.