Welcome to "Tuesday Morning"—always committed to the advancement of good news for Christians everywhere.

 

Jesus was never intimidated by the challenges of life. Someone else's impossibilities were the Lord's opportunities. He had occasional brushes with agents of Satan, and he issued divine commands that stopped them dead in their tracks. But Jesus was more comfortable making invitations than issuing commands. When he said to the sons of Zebedee, "Follow me and I will make you to become fishers of men," he was not issuing an order. He was making an offer that was accompanied by a promise. When he said to Peter and his six comrades after his resurrection, "Come and have breakfast" (John 21:12), he was not commanding them to meet him on the beach for some "show and tell" about the 153 large fish they had just caught. He was inviting them to join him for a hot meal of broiled fish and bread, and some excellent fellowship.

 

There are many invitations in Scripture. Here are four:

* Isaiah 55:1 reads, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters."

* Revelation 22:17 reads, "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."

* John 7:37 reads, "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.'"

* Matthew 14:28, 29 reads, "Lord if it's you...tell me to come to you on the water." "'Come,' he said."

 

Wherever Jesus ministered to people, he invited them to come to him.

 

This week's epistle is entitled, "Come." Continue reading below whenever you are ready. It's not a command. It is an invitation. It reminds us that at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, he invited others to join him. That same invitation has been repeated in every generation for more than two thousand years. Jesus extends the invitation through you to others. It is simple. It is powerful. It is needed. "Come ... just as you are." 

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Encourager

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“Come.”

Tom Barnard

 

id you know that the English word “come” appears around 5,000 times in the Bible? I didn’t count them all, but in Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible there are 34 columns of Bible references in which the word “come” appears. Each column lists about 150 entries. That’s how I got to that number. I did the math.

 

The various meanings of the word “come” are legion. One could mean “come about” (as in to change course); “come alive” (as to wake up); “come around” (to recover from a coma); “come back” (return); “come between” (separating two people); “come to pass” (happen); “come along” (arrive); “come again” (repeat that); “come off it” (cease being foolish); and “come to dinner” (an invitation to eat).

 

Perhaps the most winsome biblical use of the term is the invitation Jesus said to his followers in Matthew 11:28. Some readers may be able to quote the passage by heart. For the rest of us, here are his words:

 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

 

You may not comprehend everything you would like to know about the “yoke” business, but you certainly can understand the meaning of the invitation that precedes it: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened.”  And the promise: “You will find rest for your souls.” The invitation was not an invitation to meet Jesus at the Synagogue. It was not an invitation to be religious. He invited the hurting and disenfranchised to himself. What he offered was not membership in something. What he offered was acceptance, healing, completeness, forgiveness, restoration. How appropriate is that in today’s world?

 

Jesus’ words were intended for everyone, not just for the rich or the well-educated or those of noble birth. All means all. Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians. All cultures, all races. Females and males. Young and old.  Here is how Oswald Chambers expressed the invitation to come to Jesus:

 

Jesus Christ makes Himself the touchstone…At the most unexpected moments there is the whisper of the Lord—“Come unto me,” and you are drawn immediately. Personal contact with Jesus alters everything.”

 

Some of the old hymns make the invitation absolutely clear. Here is one by Lucy J. Rider:

 

Come, everyone who is thirsty in spirit. Come everyone who is weary and sad.

Come to the fountain; there’s fullness in Jesus—All that you’re longing for. Come and be glad.

I will pour water on him that is thirsty; I will pour floods upon the dry ground.

Open your heart for the gift I am bringing. While you are seeking Me, I will be found.

 

Did Jesus mean that he would put us to bed and hold our hand and sing us to sleep? No. He meant that he would help get us out of bed…out of total exhaustion…out of that weariness of soul that devastates so many people today…out of depression…out of crippling fear…out of guilt…out of frustration. The words from a gospel song by William T. Sleeper point us in the right direction:

 

Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night, Jesus, I come. Jesus, I come.

Into Thy freedom, gladness and light, Jesus I come to Thee.

Out of my sickness into Thy health. Out of my want and into Thy wealth,

Out of my sin and into Thyself, Jesus I come to Thee.

 

Wherever you are in your spiritual pilgrimage—especially if you are hurting—come to the Savior today.

 

(The quote by Oswald Chambers is from his book, My Utmost for His Highest, Publisher: Barbour and Co., p. 118. The hymns are from Sing to the Lord, Publisher: Lillenas Publishing Co., 324 and 344.)