These are among the greatest words ever spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ. They take us to the heart of our salvation. Perhaps this simple illustration will help you to see why.

One of the joys of watching football on television is that you see more than you would see if you were at the game... and it’s often warmer.

When your team scores a goal, the replays show you what was happening from various points of view, so that you get a fuller picture of all that was going on. You see the play. Then you see it from the reverse angle. Then you see it from the camera on the goal line.

You are looking at the same event, but the different camera angles give you a fuller picture. Placed together, they show you things that were happening in the play that you would have missed if you only saw one angle.

This verse gives us three camera angles on the one event of our salvation. One camera is trained on the activity of God the Father: “All that the Father gives me...” A second camera is turned toward the sinner coming to Christ: “Whoever comes to me...” And a third camera is focused on Christ receiving the sinner: “I will never cast out...”

The Father gives, the sinner comes, and the Son receives. These are the three great movements of our salvation. Viewing these pictures side-by-side will help you to see more clearly what God has done for you in Jesus Christ.

Which of the three camera angles are you most familiar with?

When Jesus says that you will find rest for your soul, He doesn’t mean sleep. He’s saying, “I will put an end to your inner turmoil. Bring your hurts and fears, your regrets and disappointments, your anxieties and your inadequacies to Me. Bring the pressures and troubles of your life to Me. I will give you peace that passes understanding. My peace I give you.”

This rest is Christ’s gift. It is not a process. It is not like a prescription or a formula that could be obtained from different sources. It is the gift of the living Christ to you.

J. C. Ryle in his book Old Paths says, “Rest such as this is the privilege of all believers in Christ. Some know more of it and some less; some feel it only at distant intervals, and some feel it almost always; few enjoy the sense of it without many a battle with unbelief, and many a conflict with fear. But all who truly come to Christ know something of this rest.”

Let the weight of your burdens draw you to the Saviour today. As your load becomes heavier, you have more reason to come to Him. The wearier you become, the more you need to yoke yourself to Christ. This is a marvellous way to view the pressures of your life. Use them as a reason to draw near to Christ today.

Will you take the Saviour at His word today? Will you come to Him and receive what He offers?

Jesus is saying the same thing in two different ways. We know that because He makes the same promise: “I will give you rest…You will find rest for your souls.”

What do we have to do to find this rest? The condition is stated in two different ways. “Come to me,” and “Take my yoke upon you.” These are two ways of saying the same thing—come to Christ and commit to Him. Coming to Christ involves taking His yoke upon you.

The yoke was a wooden beam that tied two animals together so that they walked and worked in tandem. Be very careful who you get yoked to. In business, in friendship, and supremely in marriage, ask, “What am I tying myself to?”

Jesus says, “Bind yourself to Me. Walk with Me.” Coming to Christ means taking His yoke upon you. This sounds like it is going to be tough. Maybe you are thinking, I am struggling enough as it is, and now you are telling me that Jesus wants to put some yoke around my neck?

Do you think your life would be easier without Christ? Do you feel that if you cut loose from Christ, then your restless heart would finally be free? Are you afraid that if you follow Him, He will lay some great load on you? As long as you think this you will never come to Him.

Listen to what Jesus says: “I am gentle and lowly in heart… My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (11:29–30). It’s the way of the sinner that is hard. To be yoked to Christ means that the Son of God pulls your load with you.

What could be better than to be yoked to Jesus Christ and have Him pull your load with you?

Notice that there is something for you to do: “Come to me.” Either you will do this, or you won’t, and Jesus says your experience depends on this.

Jesus doesn’t say, “Practise spiritual disciplines.” He was speaking to the most religious people in the world whose faith had become a burden. They were doing their best to live godly lives, but they felt crushed by their own attempts at pleasing God.

Is that you? Are you burdened by the sheer pressure of trying to live a good life? Maybe you are doing your best, but your life is a relentless treadmill and you are weary.

Conservative wisdom says that you find rest by living a moral, disciplined life. Liberal wisdom says that you find rest by following the impulses of your own heart. But this rests on the massive assumption that your heart knows good from evil. Follow the impulses of your own heart and your life will always be restless.

You won’t find rest in spiritual disciplines or in your heart. Jesus says, “Come to Me and I will give you rest!” Why doesn’t He say, “Believe in Me and I will give you rest?” The word “believe” might leave the impression that it’s all in the mind.

When Christ says, “Come to me,” He indicates that there is movement. The prodigal son was in the far country until one day he said, “I will arise and go to my father” (Luke 15:18). That’s more than believing.

Were you under the impression that Jesus’ rest comes to you automatically, or only as a result of more effort (e.g. spiritual disciplines)?

For the next four weeks, we are going to look at what Jesus Christ is willing to do for us. Seven times in the Bible, Jesus specifically said He will do something for us.

• I will give you rest.
• I will never cast you out.
• I will make you fishers of men.
• I will confess you before My Father in heaven.
• I will give you the Holy Spirit.
• I will take you to be with Me.
• I will that you will see My glory.

These seven commitments that Jesus makes to us are rock-solid promises. When Jesus Christ makes a commitment, you can be certain He will keep it.

Make it your aim to pursue one of these as you read this month’s devotional:

1. If you are a Christian today, take a step back and see the scope of all that is yours in Christ. See the big picture, find joy in it, and thank God for it.
2. If you are not yet committed to Christ, perhaps you have been exploring these things, you have been drawn by them, and that is why you are reading this, but they are not yet yours. Discover all that Jesus Christ offers to you, and how you can receive it from Him.

Consider praying this prayer: Heavenly Father, help me cross the line from exploring to receiving, from investigating to believing, from observing to following. May all that Jesus is willing to do, become what He actually does in my life.

Notice that John uses the word “know.” He’s talking about assurance. So what do we know?

We know that we will see Christ
“We know that when he appears… we shall see him as he is” (3:2). The Christian life is a life of faith. We love, trust, and follow a person we have never seen. But it will not always be so. Jesus said, “I will come again.”

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus prayed, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory…” (Jn. 17:24). And here John says, “We shall see him as he is.”

We know that we will be like Him
“We know that when he appears we shall be like him” (1 Jn. 3:2). Not only will we see His glory: We will share it. And that means that we will see a reflection of the Lord’s glory in each other.

Your spouse, if he or she is a believer, will be made perfect. Your family member with health struggles will be strong in body and mind. Your friend who fought with depression will be radiant with joy.

We know that we are children of God. We know that we will see Christ, and that we will be like Him. God wants you to live in the joy and peace of knowing that these gifts are yours. So, hear His promise: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God” (5:1).

Spend some time thanking God for the promise that we will see Christ and we will be like Him.

Sometimes we fail to recognise the work of the Spirit in our lives because His work in us is not yet complete.

Suppose you have a good friend who is a master craftsman. He wants to give you a new kitchen. Your old kitchen is a mess. Nothing is as you would want it to be.

There’s no one you would trust to do this work more than your friend, and so you move out while the work is going on, but at one point you decide to stop by to take a look. Your expectations are high.

But when you see your kitchen, you are disappointed. Wires are hanging out of the wall. The plumbing is not attached. Nothing is as it should be. You wonder, Maybe this isn’t the master craftsman’s work at all.

So you text your friend: “Looked at the kitchen today. Was very disappointed. Is this really your work?”

He replies, “All my work. All of it good. None of it yet complete.”

You could see that it was a work in progress. Yet you questioned the work that had been done just because there was more to do. Is this not precisely what we are tempted to do with the work of the Holy Spirit?

We think, I’m a long way from being the person God calls me to be. That is true! You are a work in progress. But the work is truly a work of the Holy Spirit of God. And while none of it is complete, all of it is good. So learn to recognise the work of the Holy Spirit in your life.

In what areas of your life do you see signs that the Holy Spirit is still at work? Thank the Master Craftsman that He will continue His work in you.

Here are two final observations about the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

6. The Holy Spirit bears witness to Jesus
“The Spirit is the one who testifies” (5:6). The Holy Spirit bears witness to Jesus by showing us how much we need Him. “When [the Helper] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement” (Jn. 16:8). And the Holy Spirit bears witness to Jesus by drawing us to Him. You have come to believe in Him, to love Him, and to follow Him. This is clear evidence of the work of the Spirit in you.

7. The Holy Spirit bears witness to us
“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (1 Jn. 4:13). What an amazing gift! God could have chosen to post an angel outside your home to remind you every morning: “You abide in Him, and He abides in you!” But God chose instead that His own Spirit would dwell in the heart of every believer. God wants to give you assurance Himself. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16).

Some believers struggle with great uncertainty. Nothing that anyone says ever seems to help them. Assurance grows as you listen to the witness of the Spirit, so believe God, love God, obey God, and trust the Holy Spirit to bring peace and assurance to your heart.

Consider the amazing gift of having God Himself, through the Holy Spirit, bring peace and assurance to your heart.