"Come Unto Me"

[Thompson, Darryl]

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Ellen G. White Estate, Devotional for April 10
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"Come Unto Me"

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Matt. 11:28.

Many who hear this invitation, while sighing for rest, yet press on the
rugged path, hugging their burdens close to their heart. Jesus loves
them, and longs to bear their burdens and themselves also in His strong
arms. He would remove the fears and uncertainties that rob them of peace
and rest; but they must first come to Him, and tell Him the secret woes
of their heart. . . . 

Sometimes we pour our troubles into human ears, and tell our afflictions
to those who cannot help us, and neglect to confide all to Jesus, who is
able to change the sorrowful way to paths of joy and peace. . . . 

He proposes to be our friend, to walk with us through all the rough
pathways of life. He says to us, I am the Lord thy God; walk with me,
and I will fill thy path with light. Jesus, the Majesty of Heaven,
proposes to elevate to companionship with Himself those who come to Him
with their burdens, their weaknesses, and their cares. . . . 

His invitation to us is a call to a pure, holy, and happy life-a life of
peace and rest, of liberty and love-and to a rich inheritance in the
future, immortal life. . . . It is our privilege to have daily a calm,
close, happy walk with Jesus.

Rest is found when all self-justification, all reasoning from a selfish
standpoint, is put away. Entire self-surrender, an acceptance of His
ways, is the secret of perfect rest in His love. . . . Do just what He
has told you to do, and be assured that God will do all that He has said
He would do. . . . Have you come to Him, renouncing all your makeshifts,
all your unbelief, all your self-righteousness? Come just as you are,
weak, helpless, and ready to die.

What is the "rest" promised?-It is the consciousness that God is true,
that He never disappoints the one who comes to Him. His pardon is full
and free, and His acceptance means rest to the soul, rest in His love.

>From Devotional: Our Father Cares, pp. 97, 98.