Thursday after Ad te levavi, the First Sunday in Advent
Posted on December 3, 2020 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 11:25-30 (NKJV)
11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Devotion
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
There are four kinds of Sabbath rest: 1) the seventh day of the week, 2) the Christ Himself, 3) faith in the Christ, and 4) the Resurrection of the Last Day. The first Sabbath is that seventh day of the week in which the Jews of old were commanded to rest from physical labor. This Sabbath is fulfilled and ended in the second Sabbath, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Because He is the Sabbath Rest of God, everyone who believes in Him enjoys an endless spiritual peace—the peace of being reconciled to God and of being forgiven of all sins; this is the third Sabbath. The fourth Sabbath is the Resurrection of the dead, which will occur on the Last Day. At that time the spiritual rest which the saints enjoy now through faith will also become a bodily rest, as they enjoy everlasting perfection of body, soul, and spirit in the presence of their Savior.
This Advent we rejoice to know that our Lord and Savior has come to give us rest. Most importantly, He has given us rest from sin, from guilt, and from the fear of God’s wrath. But, when He returns on the Last Day, He will also give us rest from pain, from sorrow, from death, and from all the weaknesses of this fallen world.
Prayer: Stir up, we beseech Thee, Thy power, O Lord, and come, that by Thy protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Thy mighty deliverance; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
