Resting In Peace

R.I.P in our society is equated with "kicking the can." It's on countless gravestones across the country and for good reason, too. However, I think there's more to resting in peace than meets the eye. Resting in peace probably happens most when a believer dies, going to be with his Lord forever, but resting in peace can occur in our every day lives. I love the verse Matthew 11:28, in which Jesus tells us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Forgive me if I misinterpret the context of the verse, but I don't think he's talking to a crowd of corpses. He's also not telling people that they should commit suicide and rest in peace. His audience at the time was probably an odd conglomeration of mothers, school children, teachers of the law, tax collectors, beggars, prostitutes, thieves, and officials. They all were from different walks of life, some easier than others. His point was that if we are weary or burdened, we can come to Him and find rest. Webster's Dictionary defines "rest" in several ways: 

1. "a bodily state characterized by minimal function." Hmm...I don't think this is what Christ meant. 

2. "freedom from activity or labor." This doesn't mean that we should stop working, but there is a simple sense of relaxing and releasing all the stress that comes from work at Christ's feet.

3. "a place for lodging." Okay, in the context of a homeless person looking for a place to stay the night, that's a cool analogy.

4. "peace of mind and spirit." Now that sounds more like it...the peace that passes all understanding will guard your minds and your hearts in Christ Jesus (Philippians). 

It is simply coming to Christ, laying down our worries upon Him, and knowing that He will give us rest, not anything else we use to try and cope with the world. This is not abandoning the activities of our day, but rather, in the midst of our days, finding rest in the quietness of our hearts knowing that our Savior is with us and desires us to come to Him. It's a cool thought, and I'm glad we can start resting in peace before we're buried ten feet under the ground. Actually, on a final note, the peace we can have now in Christ is simply a glimpse of the glory that will come when we are with Him forever. What a cool thought! Eternal rest...