Running On Empty

As a college student I would often push the limits to see how far my car could go after the gaslight came on. On a few occasions I remember coasting into a gas station only to realize I didn’t have any cash. This was before I’d been suckered into carrying a credit card and debit cards were just coming on the scene. So being a resourceful college student, I dug around under the car seats and scrounged up some change to put half of a gallon in my car. Back in the day, that cost about 56 cents. It was a great relief if I cranked the car and the gas light actually went off, even though it usually came back on a couple of miles later. I lived in a cycle like that, constantly scrounging to get enough gas to keep going.

As I look around and as I reflect on my own life, I realize many of us are living that way, on the edge of empty, scrounging just to keep moving. We’re all tired, anxious, and stressed. Our internal “gas light” is saying, “You’re on empty! Time to stop!” But we don’t. At least not for long. Then, if we stop, it’s only for the few minutes we can scrounge. And if we stop, we don’t seem to know why we’re empty or how to be filled.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are wearied and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). We make a mistake if we think of this call as a one-time only call to repentance, Jesus beckoning to the prodigal. Certainly, it is that. He frees us from the guilt and burden of sin when we come to him in faith and repentance. But it is more than that. The word translated come here is the same word Jesus used when he called the disciples to follow him. The disciples woke up every day and followed him. Coming to him is not a one-time deal. It is something we do and must continue to do.

Jesus knew the weight of the world. He knows the broken, sin-filled, painful world in which we live. He experienced it, and he retreated to be with the Father. We are designed for intimacy with the Father. Jesus gives us that intimacy through the cross. So as the world wears us down, we must come to Jesus and connect with the Father. Not just regularly, but constantly. We weren’t designed to run on empty. Jesus came that we might have life to the full. But if we don’t come to him by spending time in prayer, in His Word, and in worship, we will continue to feel wearied and burdened.

We don’t need to feel guilty about feeling weary and worn down. That’s what the world does to us. Our weariness is an invitation to come to Jesus, to let him give us life. Nothing else will fill us. We need him and always will. Therefore, there is nothing better we could do with our time than be with him. The world is full of weary people. If we come to Jesus in our weariness, we will be people who point to him as we live in the rest he gives. It is a beautiful invitation before us.

Come, Lord Jesus, and give your rest!