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Some times I am asked about our ministry,
Do you bring the lost to Jesus in your counseling? I answer, That has
been my experience, but more often I find myself bringing Christians to
Christ. So many Christians are struggling under a misconception of who
they are as a Christian.
Come unto
Me was addressed to those that labor and are heavy laden. The
Amplified Bible says, Come
to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will
cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]
When the writer of Hebrews admonishes us, he says, labor,
but he says, labor to rest. The
flesh will never rest, just as it will never
please God. Religion calls you to labor in bondage to a
standard you can never achieve, but you have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Jesus calls you to Himself and when you come He will
give you rest.
The questions that matter in life are
remarkably few, and they are all answered by Jesus words, "Come
unto Me." Jesus does not say, Do this, or don't do that.
He says, "Come unto Me." If I
will come to Jesus my actual life will be brought into accordance with my
real desires as a Christian; I will actually cease from sin, and find a
quality of life I have never known before.
Christian, have you come to Jesus? Beware
of the stubbornness of your heart; you will do anything rather than this one
simple childlike thing - "Come unto Me."
If you want the actual experience of ceasing from sin, you must come to
Jesus. We find it easier to come to religion, or to a church, or to a new
ministry of service. It is easier to come to a reformed life of
determination and commitment to being a good person or anything that looks
noble, especially if the things we do make us look good.
Jesus Christ makes Himself the touchstone.
Watch how He used the word "Come."
As we enter all kinds of circumstances and situations of life, He will
whisper, "Come unto Me." Personal
contact with Jesus alters everything. Be so child-like as to come and commit
yourself to Him. The attitude of coming is that your will resolutely lets go
of everything and deliberately commits all to Him.
. . . and
I will give you rest," 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 put My Spirit of life in you, and you will be stayed by the
perfection of vital activity and intimacy with Me. In the most difficult of
circumstances, you will have a peace that
passes all understanding because you immediately and positively
responded to His call, Come unto Me.
Learn
of Me is the subject of study that He assigns for all our life.
Be an expert about Jesus. Pour over Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Know the
experiences they share about Jesus. Live in the Scriptures. Know
everything you can possibly know of Jesus from the Word, experience
everything in life with Him, in Him and through Him in you. Have that
intimacy that He is calling you to when He says, Come
unto Me.
He is saying, It is not about
you. Its about Me. I am the Way,
the Life, and the Truth. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink
his blood, ye have no life in you. Could He be any more
graphic? He that eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. Abide
in me, and I in you. Negatively He said, If
a man abide not in me, he is cast
forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into
the fire, and they are burned.
Why do I apply this Scripture to
Christians? Because Jesus said, No man can
come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.
The invitation Come unto Me has
a demand of complete abandonment to Him: If
any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife,
and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he
cannot be my disciple. That is a TOTAL coming to Him. Speaking
to very religious people, Jesus said, And
ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
The way we know Him and what we have
in Him is through the Spirit of Him that dwells in us. "But
when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth;
for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will
speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me;
for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose [it] to you. All things
that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and
will disclose [it] to you.
Everything that is really worth
knowing is only known IN CHRIST.
Even the mystery which hath been hid from
ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints: to
whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory. It is said of Him: In
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All
that the Father has given Jesus is ours; therefore, Jesus says, Come
to Me.
So, can there be any
more incentive? Jesus, not religion, is the answer to living the Christian
life. Come to Jesus. Do it now and do it always and in all situations and
circumstances. He is talking to you when He says, Come
unto Me.
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