There is an unmistakable strength and beauty about a powerful locomotive. A typical train engine weighs around 270,000 pounds, but it can pull as much as 12,000 tons. When a train that size is moving, it can crash through a five-foot thick steel-reinforced concrete wall.

All of that power is only possible, of course, when it stays on its tracks. Utter chaos, destruction, and often death, always results when a train leaves the tracks. We saw an example of that on May 12, 2015, here in Philadelphia. Eight were killed, and 200 were injured when a commuter train derailed in the Port Richmond neighborhood.

Trains aren’t the only thing that wreck when they get off track. Our lives desperately need to be on the right track, too. Thankfully, Jesus showed us how to do that with these very hopeful words: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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).

The “rest” that Jesus promised is nothing like the promises that are offered by all the other religions in the world. Jesus made that point when He looked at the strict religious leaders of His day and said “…you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear….” (Luke 11:46). Religion, for the most part, calls us to perform different sets of rituals and behaviors in hopes that God will overlook our sins. The invitation from Jesus is completely different.

Those words in Matthew 11 prove that following Jesus is both unique and amazing. Instead of calling us to obey a set of rules and regulations, the Bible calls us to follow a Person. Over 19 times in the Bible, Jesus invites us to come and follow Him. Here is an example: “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink’ ” (John 7:37). In other words, the promise is personal.

Think about the results of coming to Jesus. He has made some breathtaking promises to those who do come to Him by faith. He will “give you rest” because companionship with Him isn’t something you have to earn. Jesus offers to freely grant His satisfying rest to all who turn from following their own ways and come to follow Him.

That “rest” is free, but notice that it is only for those who “are weary and heavy-laden.” In the original language the New Testament was written in, Jesus uses a word for “weary” that implies something so exhausting that it leaves a person feeling like he has taken a beating. If you are weary with guilt and the emptiness of life, then God’s promise of rest is for you.

The One who made you wants to “satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes” (Jeremiah 31:25). This is all made possible because of what Jesus did for us on the Cross. “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried….” (Isaiah 53:4).

Any old “track” in life will not do. The only one that can actually bring eternal rest–and that rest begins here in this life–is Jesus. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27). Augustine, a famous second century Christian pastor said, “Lord, Thou madest us for Thyself, and we can find no rest till we find rest in Thee!”

Oswald Chambers (Scottish evangelist who lived from 1874 to 1917) points out that “I will give you rest” is not, “I will put you to bed and hold your hand and sing you to sleep; but – I will get you out of bed, out of the languor and exhaustion, out of the state of being half dead while you are alive; I will imbue you with the spirit of life…”

Notice that Paul puts it this way: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8–10).

I walked life’s path with worry,
Disturbed and quite unblest,
Until I trusted Jesus;
Now faith has given REST.
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