Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28 (NKJV))

Each year my church hosts a Refresh Conference for people who serve in the ministry. It’s a time set aside to encourage and rejuvenate those who come. During the conference, we study God’s word, pray together, sing praises to our amazing God, and fellowship with each other.

Such a conference can sound exhausting. Attending the conference necessarily takes time out of your schedule. Instead of your usual Friday night relaxation or entertainment, you’re up late worshipping the Lord at the church. And your time of sleeping in on Saturday morning? Well, it’s not going to happen that week.

Yet, when the conference ends on Saturday, people will leave energized. They’ll be reinvigorated to continue doing God’s work. It seems counter-intuitive. How can less sleep and less relaxation result in more energy?

In Isaiah 28, we get the answer. In that chapter, God gives a remedy to those who are weary. He tells us what will give us rest and refresh us.

God said,

“This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest.” And, “This is the refreshing.”

. . .

“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” (Isaiah 28:12-13 (NKJV))

The remedy for weariness is going through God’s word. That’s why hearing expository teaching will refresh you. We feel better as we go through the whole counsel of God – precept upon precept, line upon line – learning about everything God has revealed to us.

As Psalm 19 teaches us, “The statutes of the Lord are right; rejoicing the heart” (Psalm 19:8 (NKJV)). Learning about God’s ways causes us to rejoice and be glad.

When you take time to learn about God and apply His truths to your life, you are letting your good Shepherd Jesus lead you. Jesus will lead you “beside the still waters” and restore your soul (Psalm 23:2-3 (NKJV)).

The Hebrew word translated as “still” in Psalm 23:2 is the same Hebrew word translated as “rest” in Isaiah 28:12. The word means resting place. When you spend time with Jesus and let Him guide you, He will take you to a place of rest.

And Jesus wants us to come to Him with all our worries and anxiety. Jesus invited those “who labor and are heavy laden” to come to Him and promised He would give them rest (Matthew 11:28 (NKJV)).

Jesus is the One who will truly give our souls rest. Zoning out in front of the television while watching a movie may be enjoyable. But you won’t be refreshed afterward. If you’re physically tired, a good night’s sleep will help your body to function properly. Yet, when you wake up, you may still feel as burdened as you did the night before.

So, do you need to be refreshed? If you need that rest, here are some things you can do:

• Read God’s word every day.
• Take time to worship God and talk to Him.
• Spend time in fellowship with other believers.
• Be intentional about learning what God has revealed to us in the Bible, precept upon precept and line upon line.
• Go to a church that teaches through the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse.
• Attend conferences where you can sit under solid Biblical teaching.

If you do these things, your soul will be refreshed. And that refreshment will help you to walk by faith with God.

*Photo by Herbert Goetsch on Unsplash