Christ's invitation was given more than nineteen hundred years ago, and he extends the same invitation today. 

All who labor and are heavy laden are invited to find refuge in Him. What precious words: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30). These words remind us of other precious invitations such as: "Come let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isa. 1:18). "And the Spirit and the bride say, come, and let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17). 

"Come unto Me"
Christ is the source of the greatest invitation extended to man, and He offers this invitation at great cost. Paul said, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich (II Cor. 8:9). Jesus left the riches of heaven, and came to this earth as a man, suffered and died on a cross for us. It is simple to accept Christ's invitation. To come to Christ is not difficult, nor is it complicated, but it is essential. 

Many today refuse to come to Jesus, and turn away from His saving power "And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life" (Jno. 5:40) One cannot play ignorant and say that he does not know how to come. "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power" (II Thess. 1:7-9). To delay acceptance of Christ's invitation is perilous.   There may be no tomorrow.

What does it mean to come to Christ?  In coming to Christ we begin our journey on the road to heaven. The Bible teaches there is just one road to heaven. "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matt. 7:13,14). 

How does one get into this way?  The scriptures tell us that "Afterward He appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen. And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mk. 16:14-16). 

"And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believeth with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea." (Acts 8:26-40).

To come to Christ means to follow His teaching. "And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say" (Lk. 6:46). It implies that man is away from God: "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God" (Isa. 59:2). Paul caused the Ephesians to remember: "Ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12). "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6). Our Lord does not withhold saving power from anyone. 

To some who were disobedient Jesus said, "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life" (Jno. 5:4U). Man has sinned against his Lord and is separated from God. Although man left God, a loving God has provided a way for man to return to Him.: "We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God" (II Cor. 5:20). Man must obey God. "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. But whosoever keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him" (I Jno. 2:4,5).

The great invitation implies that man may be blessed providing he comes to Christ in the Lord's appointed way. Christ will pardon those who do His will, and obey His word. "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7). "It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me." (Jno. 6:45).

"Take My Yoke"
Our Lord has promised to balance our burden. For centuries the human race has been carrying heavy burdens. Many were poor, traveled on foot and were too poor to own an ox, camel or donkey. On their backs and heads they carried water, brick, grain, lumber and straw. These poor people had problems of balancing the things they lifted and put on their backs. Then came an invention. The name of the inventor is not known to us, but his invention is known to us and has blessed man. A thinker divided a heavy load into two equal parts and hanging these two burdens by ropes from the two ends of a stick placed across the shoulder. By this simple means the task of the burden-bearer was made much easier and lighter. Once the poor burden-bearer was-on his way, and in the rhythm of a steady step or trot the burdens swinging on their ropes like pendulums seemed to lift the carrier along and the weight on the shoulders grew astonishingly light. This invention grew, in time, to have a name. It was called a yoke. Here was a balance like a pair of scales. This was not an ox-yoke, but a man-yoke.

To these burden-bearers Jesus said, "Take My yoke upon you." What, resume the road again? Yes, but not in their old yokes. Now they have broken their journey at the Lord's invitation and are sent forth under His authority. They are to bear His yoke. The yoke was an invention to ease the labor life. To take His yoke meant to accept His strength, His wisdom, His method, of living and laboring!

"I Will Give You Rest"
The yoke of Christ is a rest-giving yoke. It is not rest from fatigue of which the Lord speaks, but rest from the burden of sin, and our guilts. The Lord would save us from our losses, failures and bereavement. He wants us to know He cares, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you: (I Pet. 5:7). When Jesus saw His friends deserting Him and it seemed to His disciples that His cause was about to fail, Jesus promised to give rest to men with a yoke. They needed the yoke of Christ to learn patience. The followers of Jesus would have made Christ and earthly king. This did not get settled for them until after the resurrection of Jesus.

"Learn of Me, for I Am Meek and Lowly in Heart"
Here is a tenderness that we must not miss. Before the burden-bearer resumes the road he must be informed of Jesus. Jesus becomes his teacher. His credential is, "I am meek and lowly in heart." He is one of them! I, too, am a burden-bearer. Only a man in a yoke knows the tricks of a yoke. There is the shaping of a yoke to know. There is the adjusting of the burdens to know. There is the weight of the burdens to determine. There is the art of stopping without a jar. There is the finer art of starting without strain. There is the steadiness of gait to be acquired. There is endurance to be developed. There is a highway to know and markets to understand and other toilers to deal with in the bitter press of ceaseless competing. Jesus was a toiler. He placed His wisdom on the way of life at their disposal.

"And Ye Shall Find Rest Unto Your Souls"
The word REST does not denote an end of the journey, but rather an intermission. Think of soldiers halting for a brief rest while on the march! The march is to be resumed, the campaign is not over. They are halting for the purpose of gaining strength for what lies ahead. The word REST refers to a resting-place. On ancient highways there were resting stones. Burdens were placed here and slid back on the carriers as the journey was resumed. Jesus was a carrier and could instruct as to the road to take. 

"For My Yoke Is Easy, And My Burden Is Light"
Evil masters often overloaded their slaves with staggering burdens, but the burdens Jesus would assign are far lighter than worldly people would put upon others. The great invitation is the toiler's text. Work is in the program of God. "I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work" (Jno. 9:4). "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12). Jesus has not planned that we work without Him!

Man has been given the responsibility of doing something for himself. Noah could not stop the flood, but he could and did build the ark as God commanded. The blind man could not cure his blindness, but he could go to the pool of Siloam and wash as Jesus instructed him to do. (Jno. 9). We cannot remove our own sins, but we can obey the gospel of Christ and let the blood of Christ cleanse us! Paul said, "Behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of our salvation" (II Cor. 6:2). Now is the time to obey Christ.

There is the story about a young man's reaction to (Prov. 23:26). "My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways." This bright boy heard and was deeply impressed by these words,but he did not surrender to the Lord. He did not obey the gospel because he thought that he had plenty of time. Ten years later a collegian heard the same message under favorable circumstances, but there was still plenty of time. Twenty years later a statesman of considerable fame heard the same text from a gospel preacher, but at that moment there was much government work to be done, nations to be visited, great responsibilities to meet. While on one of the state missions, he was stricken and died. He was heard to say, " Too late." The bright boy, the collegian, the renowned statesman were all the same person. He had passed many opportunities by, and procrastination gave Satan the victory. 

NOW
It is said that speaking from one point of view, the largest word in the Bible is "God", the sweetest is "love", the most musical is "come", the longest is "eternity" and the shortest is "now". The word now means "At the present moment." A Merchant watches the market for the most opportune time to buy or sell his goods. The farmer watches the weather for the most favorable time to plant his seed, and the sailors watch the wind and tide for the most favorable time to sail. Why shouldn't the sinner do a similar thing and leave a life of sin and enter into the path for heaven? NOW holds out certain blessings that one may never have access to again. NOW finds you on time's side of the grave, and enjoying a reasonable portion of health; also with strength, intelligence and the presence of mind to get right with God. If there is a tomorrow, what will it hold for you?  There is urgency in Christ's invitation, for we have no guarantee of tomorrow. Solomon said, "Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth" (Prov. 27:1). Build your hope for eternity in heaven. Do not build on the quick-sand of sin and worldly pleasure. Listen to the words of Jesus on this subject; "Everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it" (Matt. 7:26-27).

NOW, this very moment, may be the last and only chance you will ever have to obey the gospel of the Lord. Why not come to Jesus now? Let Jesus take you from death to life, from certain doom to salvation, and from judgment and eternal punishment to heaven. Accept Christ's invitation to let Him ease and rest you. Then let Him send you forth in obedience to his Word. Under the Lord's guidance, you will always find a resting stone just when you need it most.