(Painting: "Jesus Commands His Disciples to Rest," by James Tissot, c.1890)
Here
in 21st-century America, we love our technological gadgets. Most
everyone has lived a significant part of their lives in front of a glowing
screen, whether a TV or a computer or a smartphone. Nowadays, the surge of
technological innovation is accelerating, and many people are keen to pick up
whatever new gadget is on the market: new models of smartphones, virtual
reality headsets, and so on. The reason why these devices are so popular is
that they’ve changed the way people live their lives in extraordinary ways. Now
we have sources of entertainment continually at our fingertips, we can access
almost any information in the world, and we can network with hundreds of
friends, scattered across thousands of miles, at the touch of a button.
Those probably all sound like really
good things, right? But let me ask another question: Do you feel like these
things lead you to the place where you are finding rest for your souls? In my
personal experience, and in pretty much all the cases I’ve observed, I’d have
to conclude that the effect is actually the opposite. Yes, we may have
perpetual entertainment available to us—but, for all the pleasure that can
bring, doesn’t it sometimes descend to the level of just being something to
distract us from the pain and boredom of everyday life? And it’s great to have
readily-available information at our fingertips—but isn’t it true that relying
on search engines and digital assistants to answer our questions often leads to
intellectual laziness, where we’re satisfied with knowing the basic facts
without actually seeking true understanding, context, or depth of insight? And
while it’s great that hundreds of our acquaintances can see what we ate for
lunch at the touch of a button, isn’t it possible that this sometimes distracts
us from building deep, authentic relationships with the people we’re actually
physically present with? In my experience, for all the benefits these devices
bring, we’re still just as worn out, harried, and discontent as we ever were
before, and perhaps more so. These technologies, as wonderful as they are when
used for the right things, cannot bring us “rest for our souls.”
But that’s what we really need. That’s
what we’re all longing for—a sense of rooted, deep-running peace that isn’t
shaken even in the midst of life’s battles. The good news is, there is
something that can bring you that kind of rest. Jeremiah 6:16 says, “Stand at
the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is,
and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” According to the Bible,
finding the contentment we seek isn’t about looking to the future and expecting
the next wave of technology to satisfy all our desires. Rather, it instructs us
to look to the past: “Ask for the ancient paths.” The secret of finding rest
for our souls has always been there, from the beginning of time—we find it when
we enter into relationship with God, because it’s that very relationship that
we were made for. The great philosopher Augustine of Hippo said, “You have made
us for yourselves, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until we find our rest
in you.” And God has made a way for us to find that rest. Because of Jesus, we
have a way to enter into a life-giving relationship with God—Jesus’ death on
the cross and resurrection to new life endow us with his own righteousness and
the promise of eternal life, so that we can enter into relationship with the
righteous, eternal God, who loves us beyond what we can possibly imagine. Jesus
himself echoes the call of the verse from Jeremiah when he says, “Come to me,
all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
It’s pretty simple. If you’re looking for soulful rest in the midst of all of
life’s demands, there’s only one place to find it—Jesus Christ. And the best
part is: it’s always on offer, and it’s always free.