"He Makes Me Lie Down..."

In Psalm 23, we read that the Good Shepherd makes His sheep lie down to rest. That word "makes" is key for two reasons ... the Shepherd knows that rest is good - in fact essential - for His sheep, but He also knows that they are stubborn, and will resist their need to rest, unless He requires it of them!

This notion ties in with Matthew 11: 28 - 30, our Bible reading for today...

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Many of us, I think, carry burdens we are not meant to be carrying. These are the burdens of our past, the lives we used to live, the things we've done, the things we've said, the people we've hurt ...

These burdens take away our strength and make us weak and weary.

Lent, as a time of reflection, offers us an opportunity to face these things, and to repent of them, and call on the Father for forgiveness. When that burden we're weighed down by brings us to our knees, we can release it at the feet of Jesus and be at rest, as He urges us to do in our Scripture passage today.

During the season of Lent we remember and meditate on everything that Jesus has done for us. And when we cry out to Him in surrender, we will find that every time we call on Him, He reminds of His love and that He died for us not because we were perfect, but because we needed a Saviour.

Today, let's accept the gift of His rest and His grace, by putting down those things we are not required to carry, and instead taking up the joyful weight of His mercy and love.