“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll lean to live freely and lightly.” (Matt. 11:28-30, The Message)

What is religion? I believe religion is having the Truth in our mind but never taking the time to meditate on the Truth long enough for it to sink into our heart. So we try to live according to the teachings of the Word but we do it in our own strength. It wears us out. It tires us and burns us out.

Religion ruled before the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. When Christ died on the cross, He broke the power of religion and offered us to live according to “the unforced rhythms of grace”.

The world is so used to laboring and toiling and earning income that when we come into the kingdom of God, we continue along the comfortably in-trodden paths. We trot along with the rest of mankind in the rhythms of toiling and laboring … instead of “the unforced rhythms of grace”.

We do not even consciously account for what we are doing. Toiling and laboring have become normal part of our lives. We do not even know what it means to live in “the unforced rhythms of grace”. But Jesus teaches us, what it means.

He invites us, “Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.”

Our Heavenly Father has, through salvation, presented us with a life of rest and work in one, for Jesus says to us, “Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.” ... so, the work that the Lord has put ready for us suits our personality and gifts flawlessly. It is like a perfectly fitting and extremely comfortable garment that we won’t want to take off.

Jesus reveals how we will find this perfectly fitting place: “Keep company with me and you’ll lean to live freely and lightly.”

I believe it to be one of the most awesome promises in the Word – “to live freely and lightly”. We will obtain it when we learn to keep company with our Lord – the Word of God – intimately … for only when we know the Word in our heart, and not just in our mind, are we in a position to receive revelation that breaks the chains of limitation.

The general Word of God – logos – does not change our life. Only the intimate revelation of a certain truth that the Holy Spirit has ministered to our heart – rhema word – contains the power to change our life. Only such deep revelation contains the power to move the mountains.

Unfortunately we don’t take enough time to meditate on the Word of God long enough for the truths to sink into our heart and remove the limitations … so that we could live freely and lightly.

Our enemy is not stupid. The Bible calls him “evil genius”. He knows how to keep us in the rut. So, we continue in religion and not in faith – “the unforced rhythms of grace”. We do things that are not bad in themselves. Yet they steal the intimate fellowship-time with the Lord.

Apart from meditating on the Word of God, the Truth has no chance to sink into our heart. We remain limited. We only live on the truth that has taken root in the heart. Unfortunately, more often than not, we stay content with salvation. 

We get saved but do not move on to the abundant life that the kingdom of God offers. We are still sick and in lack, we labor and toil. It is not because the promises of God do not work. It is because we remain limited in our heart.

Jesus is calling for You today. He says, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll lean to live freely and lightly.” (Matt. 11:28-30, The Message) …that’s a promise :)

May You live freely and lightly! Be blessed,

Eve