Rest.
Zion's Advocate, Vol. 40, No. 12, December 1901.
Only the weary long for rest, and none but the weary can rest. There are as many meanings attached to this word as there are kinds or forms of weariness. The sense in which the word is to be taken, then, depends upon the sense in which the person is weary who longs for rest.Human desires and inclinations to find a rest on earth and settle down here are very great. We often sing, "I would not live always," when in the enjoyment of health and favored with prosperity, but it is very hard for us to adopt in our secret desires the sentiments we sing. There is a natural clinging to life and to this world that is inherent in our nature. The truth is we would never desire a better world than this, or even think of it, if God did not put it into our hearts by a new creation. We would never look away from the pleasures of this world for peace and happiness if God did not create in our hearts a hungering and thirsting that carnal pleasures cannot satisfy. There is such a desire to build a nice, comfortable nest here, get well into it and stay there, that we would surely do so to our heart's delight if God did not, by his rich mercy and in his gracious providence, turn up the nest or let us fall through the bottom. Often when we think we have produced for ourselves a resting place, the feathers and sticks are discovered to be polluted, and we find it unfit for our abode and unsatisfactory to our desires. The successful financier has a greed for gain and vainly imagines that when his greed is satisfied, rest will come to him, but alas! he is never satisfied. The money that he succeeds in hoarding up becomes a burden to him, and he finds that he has only been laboring to increase his expenses and perplex his mind. The aspiring politician seeks the gratification of his burning desire for fame by gaining a high political seat, often using dishonest means to accomplish his purpose. But instead of finding rest he has only taken upon himself additional cares, duties and responsibilities that render his life a continuous round of burdensome perplexities.
Especially is it true of God's children that have "no abiding city here." Earth is too low and mean a place for the bride of Christ to live in forever, for she has a mansion above - "a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." She is exhorted, therefore, not to set her affections on things below, for it is the unchangeable purpose of her adorable Bridegroom that she shall share with him in all his wealth and honor, and that there shall be endless communion between them in the eternal world.
When made sensible of the ruin of sin the soul labors to find rest from the trouble into which it is thus plunged. Like Noah's dove no resting place can be found, for rest for Christ's dove can be found only in Christ the true Ark. When the weary one is drawn to that Ark by the Father, a sweet rest is given. The burden of duty brings a weariness from which rest can be found only by taking the easy yoke of the Saviour and bearing the light burden of service required. Oh! how sweet is that rest! Many of our readers are glad witnesses to the joyful rest found in obedience, while many of them are troubled with the weight of their duty and are living in disobedience to their gracious and merciful Saviour. Oh! dear ones, how can you stay away?
We are pilgrims and strangers here. Such was our blessed Saviour. He had no place on earth he could call his home. We could not make our way through this wilderness alone. We would not only be homeless, and hungry, and thirsty, but we would be completely lost. We are dependent upon infinite wisdom to guide our way to the abundant wealth and glory laid up for us, and to supply us while we journey here. Occasionally he gives us a sweet rest, permitting us to sit down under his shadow with great delight while his fruit is inexpressibly sweet to our taste. Even now, as we write, our own heart rejoices in him. Surely he is our own sweet, blessed, glorious Saviour! Bless his holy name for a sweet rest that this world can neither give nor take away! It is to be found only in Jesus the sinner's Friend. Oh! that we could love and praise him more and serve him better!
Our rest here is but a foretaste of that final, triumphant, endless rest that shall be ours in glory. The sorrows, toils and disappointments of life in this world tend to wean our affections from perishable things. Afflictions befall us and we think it would be so sweet to rest from all our sufferings. When the vigor and buoyancy of youth give way to the infirmities of old age, we become more reconciled to the final change that must come to all. How sweet must that rest be to the head that has ached, the heart that has heaved with emotions of uncontrollable grief, the frame that has been racked with pain and scorched with fever, the soul that has been cast down with disappointments!
My rest is in heaven, my rest is not here,
Then why should I murmur when trials are near?
Be hushed, my dark spirit, the worst that can come,
But shortens thy journey and hastens thee home.
J. R. D.
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