Jesus bids us to come to him. ‘Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Literally, Jesus says ‘I will rest your souls.’ Are you carrying an impossible load on your back, are you feeling the burden of sin, the burden of shame, the burden of shoulds and the burden of suffering? Jesus says come and I will rest your soul. Do not linger in your shame like our first poor parents. If you tarry till you are better, you will never come at all - but arise your feeble soul and go to Jesus. He will embrace you. One rough touch will break a bruised reed, and quench the flickering, smoking candle, but his matchless, tenderness, love and skill will strengthen your week hands, and confirm your feeble knees. He will comfort you entirely. Are you burdened with sin and shame? Come now! Hurry your weary legs and do not delay. ‘Come out of your bush,’ Jesus says, ‘come out. Where are you my beloved!’ ‘I am behind the bush because I am naked.’ O poor sinner. Come to Christ.
Some of you, who are of a godly spirit still carry your cross of shame - Jesus bids you to drop it for that is not the cross you were called to carry. He has carried your shame and sin. He calls you to come out from your bush so that he may clothe you with his robe of righteousness! Hurry poor sinner, come and when you do come, Sit at his feet. Mary discovered the way to get to know her beloved friend, Jesus; that was to sit with him. Sit and spend time with your saviour; study his happy features . Are they not meek and mild? Are they not gentle? Are they not govern by love? Sit a while beneath his cross; did he condemn you and scorn you, knowing that it was your sin that hung him there on the tree? No. He did it all for you, that you may share in his happy fellowship with his Father. Will you not come at this minute, leaving everything and sit with him to break bread and drink wine. Come and sit he says, come and sit. O sit poor sinner, but like a dog we are prone to wonder from the master whom we love.
The words of Christ are at first a strong medicine; bitter to the mouth - but if you stay like Peter, whom they had no other to flee to, for no one else had the words to eternal life. Jesus was and is the word of life, so they stayed. They followed him. And tell me poor sinner, if you do not stay with Jesus, where will you go? I shall tell you. You will go to sin, you will go to yourself, you will go to the park of pleasures where the kids of this world play. But soon you will find yourself to be a foreigner, you cannot sit on the swings. Your soul will be troubled, shame will engulf your heart, happiness will flee from you and sorrow shall be your dear companion. O poor sinners, stay with your master. He is calling you now with a strong love and zeal to Come, Sit and Stay. Come, Sit and Stay and I will rest your soul. Do you not believe this dear sinner that Christ his able to do as he has promised? If you believe it, then you will rise and come to him. But if you stay in your condition and do not come, then how have you believed in him or trusted him that he can do for you as he has promised. O you will make him out to be a liar and is Christ a liar? Absolutely not for he knows no sin. Come now and tarry not, come to him in prayer - speak to him to comfort your soul!
K.Oni
Was inspired by a recent book I’m reading titled Come, Sit, Stay by Ellen Vaughn of which I shall write a review of in due course. You can purchase it here: http://www.clevershoppers.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=80807
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