Come and Rest (Mt. 11:28)

• You must come to Jesus.  The invitation is from Jesus to you.  If you will come to Jesus, He will come to you.
• You must come to Jesus.  The sense is not "Come if you want" or "Come if and when you're ready".  The sense is "You.  Come.  Right now."  There is an authority and urgency in Jesus' invitation.  Just because you must come to Jesus doesn't mean you will.  Jesus gives a compelling invitation, but He doesn't force you to accept it.
• You must come to Jesus.  The invitation is not "Come to Christianity."  It is not "Come to religion."  It is not "Come to church."  It is not "Come to the pastor."  It is not "Come to the altar."  The invitation is "Come to Jesus."  Only Jesus can provide you with the rest your soul desperately needs.
• There is a certain posture that strategically positions you to come to Jesus and find rest.  The "weary and heavy-laden" are best positioned to come to Jesus and find rest.  The Pharisees weren't so positioned.  They looked put-together on the outside, but Jesus later called them "white-washed tombs" (Mt. 23:27).  I suspect there are more weary people reading this than people who want nothing to do with Jesus.  What does it mean to be "weary and heavy-laden"?  You are struggling beneath a heavy load.  Your back is straining and your legs are buckling.  You could collapse at any time.  You feel as if you're sinking, that the load you are called to bear is beyond your capacity.  You're expecting the waves to overcome and sink you. 
• There is one thing that makes you more weary, more heavy-laden than anything else.  There is no load more oppressive, more back-breaking, more self-defeating, or more cruel than sin.  Sin is not just a violation or an omission.  It is a state of being, the default nature you've had since birth.  Those who haven't come to Jesus are still ruled by that nature.  You didn't develop a sin nature because you sinned.  You sinned because you have a sin nature. (For more on the sin nature, read Eph. 2:1-3; Rom. 8:5-8.)
• The reward for coming to Jesus is rest.  Rest comes from no other source than Jesus.  Only Jesus can satisfy our soul.  Only Jesus can fulfill your longing.  Only Jesus can forgive your sin.  Only Jesus can lighten your load.  "Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation" (Psa. 66:19, NASB).