resting or resisting?

There are two readings for today.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 95
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert [Psalm 95:7-8].
This is a call to praise, and yet it ends with a warning from the history of Israel.
They did not honour God as God, they did not express their gratitude for His goodness, they did not draw near to Him in worship, they did not accept His will for them.
They resisted and fought His goodness all the way, until finally God said, ‘fine, have it your way!’
For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.”So I declared on oath in my anger,
“They shall never enter my rest.” [Psalms 95:10-11]

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. [Matthew 11:28-30]
Jesus is basically saying the same thing as Psalm 95 – come to me, bow down to me, honour me, listen to me, follow me, and you will enter my rest.
Refuse me, and you will never enter my rest.
The call to praise God is not just a call to go to church and sing worship songs.
Psalm 95 and Matthew 11 are both the same – appeals to submit our hearts and lives to the Lord and let Him be first in our lives.
Surrender to Him, and you will find the rest and joy you so desperately long for.
Resist Him, go your own way, refuse to listen to His voice, and you will not find it.

We are all looking for deep down rest and peace, the kind of inner peace that stabilizes and sustains us through all the storms and trials of life.
Our sin and rebellion actually make us restless wanderers through life [Genesis 4:14].
The world is filled with people running desperately from one ‘drug’ to the next, trying to experience peace within, yet never finding it.
And all the while God is calling, urging us to come to Him and honour Him as God, and offering us the peace we are looking for.
Quit resisting, surrender, allow God to take charge (like a good shepherd) and lead you to where life is good, where the waters are quiet, where the pasture is green.
For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. [Psalms 95:7]

He is calling you today; today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.
Come to Him, and He will give you rest!

PRAYER:
Lord, I know that I want this peace and rest within. I also know that I foolishly look to the wrong sources for it. Help me to come to You today, and find my rest in You.