FBC Daily Devotional – February 1, 2021

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, a good Monday to you, and the first day of February 2021.

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We have, we're one twelfth of the way through this year already.

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And you know what I like about the first day of February? January is behind us, and we're one step closer to spring.

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It's not that I hate winter, I don't mind it when I can dress properly for it and stay warm, but it's those other times.

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But anyway, it is February, and I'm looking forward to a new month and a new week.

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Well, today, if you're doing the scripture reading, we've been reading in Matthew chapter 11. Who is it, anyway, that comes to Jesus?

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Who comes to Jesus? Now, in the gospel record, there are a lot of people who came to Jesus, but how many of them actually came to Jesus?

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And this passage that we read today gives us a little insight into what I'm talking about.

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There were a lot of people who came to Jesus, but they came as critics. And Jesus refers to them when he says how they came to John the

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Baptist as well as, and reacted to John's ministry as well as Jesus' ministry. He says, this generation, these people that come out to me in this generation, which is, he's referring primarily to the religious leaders of his day.

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He said, it's like children playing in the market, sitting in the marketplace and calling to their playmates, and no matter what the playmates do, they criticize them.

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They said, we played the flute for you and you didn't dance. And then, okay, so they didn't dance, but then we sang a dirge and you didn't mourn.

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You're not doing what we expect you to do. We're not doing what we want you to do. And so they complain.

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So these are people who come to Jesus out of some interest and curiosity, but they're not really interested in what

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Jesus has to offer and what Jesus is trying to communicate. That is the good news of the kingdom.

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So who is it that comes to Jesus? Well, in referring to those individuals, we can say it is not those who think that they have it all together, who think that they have all of life's answers, and therefore they don't need him.

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So there's no one who has ever come to Jesus who thought they didn't need him.

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No one. There's no one who's come to Jesus who thought they had all the answers to life, this life and the next.

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No one. So who is it that comes to Jesus? Well, Jesus explains.

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He says those who come to him are those who have a childlike faith. Those who come to Jesus are the ones who recognize themselves as being needy, dependent, vulnerable, just as a child does to, you know, comes to his parent.

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That child realizes that he needs the help of his parent. Some think they don't, but when all is said and done, they do.

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When they're hurt, when they're in trouble, where do they run? They run to mom. They run to dad.

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They run to the parent. So those who are childlike come to Jesus, Jesus says.

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But then another thing Jesus says is that those who come to him are those to whom

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Jesus chooses to reveal the Father. Listen to what he says. He says, all things have been handed over to me by my

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Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the

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Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

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So the Lord Jesus has a role in choosing and calling those to come to him, and they will surely come when

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Jesus calls them to come. And then another indication of those who come to Jesus is seen in the invitation that Jesus offers at the end of Matthew 11, where he says, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

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So those who come to Jesus are those who are burdened, weighed down, and needing rest.

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Again, the person who thinks he can handle everything, thinks he's got it all together, who can answer the question, where will you spend eternity?

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He said, well, I'm sure I'm going to go to heaven. How can you be so sure you're going to go to heaven? I can be sure

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I'm going to go to heaven, because I'm a pretty good person. I'm not as bad as anybody else. In other words, he's totally depending upon himself.

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He doesn't see himself as a burdened, heavy laden sinner who needs the rest that only

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Jesus can offer him. Those who are burdened over the weight of their sin, they're laden down with the weight of that sin, are the ones who come to Jesus.

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And what they find is rest for their souls. And why do they find that rest?

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Well, because of the way Jesus describes himself. He says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.

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Gentle and lowly in heart. Is that how you see Jesus? Gentle and lowly in heart.

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And frankly, what Jesus is doing there in describing himself as gentle and lowly, is he is taking the description that God uses to speak of himself in the

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Old Testament Scriptures. It only makes sense, after all, Jesus is God in the flesh,

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God who became man. And he says, you're going to find rest for your souls if you come to me, burdened and heavy laden individual, because I am gentle and lowly in heart.

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Now, there is so much that can be said about how Jesus describes himself there.

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And I would just commend to you a book that was recently published by Crossway, I believe it is.

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It's entitled Gentle and Lowly. See if I can show you here that book. Yeah, Gentle and Lowly.

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And it's subtitled The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers.

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Excellent book, excellent book, I commend it to you. But anyway, this is how

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Jesus describes himself as gentle and lowly. Consequently, those who come to Jesus will find rest for their souls if they come burdened, weighed down, and knowing that they need that soul rest.

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Jesus says, I am the answer, come to me. It reminds me of an old gospel invitation hymn we sing sometimes, entitled

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Jesus, I Come. Remember the words to that hymn if you're familiar with it? The song says, out of my bondage, sorrow, and night,

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Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come. Into thy freedom, gladness, and light,

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Jesus, I come to thee. Out of my sickness into thy health, out of my want and into thy wealth, out of my sin and into myself,

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Jesus, I come to thee. Out of my shameful failure and loss, into the glorious gain of thy cross, out of earth's sorrows into thy balm, out of life's storms and into thy calm, out of distress to jubilant psalm,

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Jesus, I come to thee. Out of unrest and arrogant pride, into thy blessed will to abide,

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Jesus, I come to thee. Out of myself to dwell in thy love, out of despair into raptures above, upward for aye, on wings like a dove,

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Jesus, I come to thee. And then the last stanza says, out of fear and dread of the tomb, into the joy and light of thy home,

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Jesus, I come to thee. Out of the depths of ruin untold, into the peace of thy sheltering fold, ever thy glorious face to behold,

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Jesus, I come to thee. Have you come to him? Come unto me,

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Jesus says, you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

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Come to him and find that rest. Our Father and our God, we're so thankful and grateful today for the rest that is found in the

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Lord Jesus Christ. He has promised to offer it, promised to give it, and I pray that by your grace, if there's anyone in the sound of my voice who has not come to him with the heavy load of their sin, come to him who is gentle and lowly.

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May they come to him today and find rest for their souls. And this we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

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All right, well, I hope your week, your new month gets off to a great start, and I trust