In a phrase we all know, Isaiah the prophet declares, “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

In a more recent voice, Cage the Elephant, an American rock band, gives us this rendition:

“There ain’t no rest for the wicked, Money don’t grow on trees, I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed, There ain’t nothing in this world for free, I know I can’t slow down. I can’t hold back. Though you know, I wish I could, Oh no there ain’t no rest for the wicked, Until we close our eyes for good”

 

No rest.

Nope, none.

Not for the wicked.

Not until we close our eyes for good.

 

Well, that’s certainly depressing.

And yet, you feel that. I know you do.

 

Because this world is tiresome.

And not just for our bodies, but more importantly, for our souls.

 

Fortunately, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus gifts us with this great word:

“Come to Me, all 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 comfortable, and My burden is light.”

 

Here we find a couple things we humans are not at all familiar with.

 

God Rest.

Soul rest.

 

Oh and better yet, what the heck are

Comfortable yokes and light burdens????!!!

Where were we when God was handing those out?!

 

So, since we are generally unaware of what the heck he is talking about, let’s try and turn to what we do know.

As humans, we are all keenly aware of Unrest, both physically and emotionally.

We have beat up and weary souls.

Heavy oppressive weights and burdens.

And Cage the Elephant isn’t wrong: ‘We got bills to pay and mouths to feed, there ain’t nothing in this world for free.  I cant hold back.  I cant slow down.’

 

We are tired.

We are weary.

Even after sleeping, how often do you feel rested?

We are stretched.

You know this, and you feel this.

You know what this feels like.

And not only that, but we also know what it causes.

When we are tired and spent, we tend to be…

Irritable.

Depressed.

Lethargic.

 

Now, imagine, that’s how your soul is.

How the you behind the you is.

Irritable.

Depressed.

Lethargic.

 

I don’t want to live like that.

Do you?

 

So, a couple things come into play here.

First of all, wickedness in and of itself, is wearisome.

It is.

It’s tiring running after crap all the time.

And that “it” IS NEVER satisfied.

So cut it out.

 

Secondly, and more unfortunately, seeing ourselves as wicked is even more burdensome.

(And on the flip, trying to be righteous is a unholy religious disaster which honestly makes us jerks.)

“Who will save me from this body of death….” (Romans 7)

There is a fine line we need to understand here.

The seeing ourselves as failures or filthy worms who thankfully God devised a plan to save us by viciously executing his son thus using the Jesus as a kind of meat shield so he can look upon us…  is a false gospel.

And you will never find rest for your soul there.

Technically, are we wicked and capable of anything? Sure. Can we do whatever we want? Sure.  Can we choose to live there?  Sure.

But it’s an awfully heavy burden to put on yourself.

And more importantly, not if you want rest.

God rest.

That we only find as humble sons and daughters of God who know and lean into how HE sees them.

 

Technically are we holy and righteous?  Sure.  Are we above sin? Ummm… Sure.  Can we choose to live here? Sure.

But it’s an awfully heavy burden to put on yourself.

And more importantly, not if you want rest.

God rest.

That we only find knowing we are loved and unconditionally accepted as we are, not as we ‘should’ be (cause we’ll never be as we should be).

Finally,