I Will Give You Rest {Devotional}

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

I know many of us have heard this verse or parts of it many times, usually when life gets busy or things seem impossibly hectic. This past weekend, I was visiting my home church and during worship, the theme seemed to revolve around needing rest. Matthew 11:28-30 was shared and it was a fresh reminder for me that each day we are supposed to need God, it’s not expected that as we mature in our relationship with Christ we need Him less. In fact, the opposite is true.

As I mature in my walk with God, I see more and more how dependent I must be on Him. And when I’m dependent, it’s as if I am taking His yoke, letting Him carry my burdens, and allowing Him to give me rest. That's what he wants.

On the long drive home, I heard the song “I’ll Keep On” and the words hit me –

Faith is something I am not accustomed to
Trusting other people’s something I don't really love to do
It's like I'm standing in the rain and You offer me a raincoat
But I would rather stand there being wet than take the handout

Why don’t we let God give us rest from the things that toil in our minds? Is it that we don’t fully trust Him? Is it that we just aren’t used to having someone to rely on? Is it that we don’t actually believe God when He says he wants to relieve us of our burdens?

He loves us and cares for us more than we know and he wants us to come to Him; it is how he designed us – to need Him. So, let Him have everything weighing you down... He can handle it.



~ words by Ariel Kuhn

The Great Old Hymns...

Be Thou My Vision

Hymns. Some people love them, and some people go off to "Lala Land" when the organ starts playing. Often we are so caught up in the sound of today's modern worship band that we forget many of these "old-time" praise and worship songs. However, I strongly encourage you not to knock them. See many of them proclaim a truth and reverence for our Savior that is completely lost in many Contemporary Christian Artists. Many Christian artists just sound as if they are trying to be like the rest of the music industry, when in fact we are called to do the exact opposite. 

"And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." -Romans 12:2 (KJV)

In many modern-day Christian songs, the name of the Lord is not even mentioned and the song can easily be mistaken for any ordinary love song about a man or woman. Or if God is mentioned, the song is so superficial it's like any other country song on the market today. 

I want songs to bring me closer to God. I want songs to bring me on my knees and weeping. I'm not saying that listening to these other Christian songs is wrong in anyway, however, when I worship my Savior I want the lyrics to dig down deep and change me.

So the next time that your church decides to worship God with a hymn, or your iPhone starts playing one of those "old-timers songs" don't just skip it. Listen to the lyrics, not the music (if that bothers you).  Make sure that it aligns with scripture (since we should be doing that with any song or sermon, in the first place). And lastly give praise and worship to our heavenly Father, who is worthy beyond measure.

P.S. There is an excellent resource that I just learned about, a book series titled, Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan. He goes into depth about the theology and life stories behind numerous hymns. I highly encourage you to look up back stories of hymns so you can see how hymns are still relatable to today's society. 

-Taryn