Daily Word of Grace # 192 (December 9, 2020)
Many people are restless—restless about their health or their job or their relationships or their life trajectory. You may be restless at this very moment. If so, you are in good company. Perhaps the most influential Church Father in the history of Christianity is St. Augustine (354-430), a faithful bishop, brilliant philosopher, and prolific scholar. One of his most famous books is his Confessions, which begins this way: “You are great, Lord, and highly to be praised (Ps. 47:2): great is your power and your wisdom is immeasurable (Ps. 146:5). Man, a little piece of your creation, desires to praise you, a human being ‘bearing his mortality with him’ (2 Cor. 4:10), carrying with him the witness of his sin and the witness that you ‘resist the proud’ (1 Pet. 5:5). Nevertheless, to praise you is the desire of man, a little piece of your creation. You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Jesus himself offers a gracious invitation to the restless: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). In other words, the gospel is good news because it points to One in whom the restless can always find rest.
Love and Prayers,
Dave