A Weary World Rejoices

Inside: “A weary world rejoices.” Christmas isn’t about trying harder. It’s about coming to Jesus because we needed a Savior.

Our Christmas Tea theme at church this year is O Holy Night, and the line we’re really centering the evening around is this one:

“A weary world rejoices.”

It’s easy to think that kind of weariness just means being tired or overwhelmed. But when Jesus speaks about weariness in Matthew 11:28, He is talking about something deeper than that. He is talking about the weight of sin. The burden of guilt. The heaviness that comes from knowing we fall short and can’t make ourselves right with God.

When Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” He’s not asking us to try harder. He’s asking us to come. To bring our sin and our guilt and leave them with Him. That’s what Christmas is really about. We didn’t just need help… we needed a Savior.

He lived the life we never could and went to the cross for sins that weren’t His. He paid what we never could pay. And now forgiveness is real. We wake up each day depending on grace, not trying to earn it. And we are not left trying to make ourselves right with God.

If your heart feels heavy this season because you’re aware of your sin, you are exactly the kind of person Jesus came for. He is not waiting for you to get your life together. He simply says, “Come to Me.” Not later. Not once you feel better about yourself. Now.

And that’s where real rest begins.

And for those of us who already belong to Christ, this invitation doesn’t stop at salvation.

We don’t come to Jesus once and then move on. We come to Him again and again because we are still weak and dependent, and still in need of grace. We still sin. We still pick up burdens we were never meant to carry. We still forget where our hope really is.

It’s easy, even as believers, to quietly fall back into trying to handle life on our own. To carry guilt. To think we need to“do better” before coming back. But Jesus does not change toward us. He does not grow tired of us. He does not turn us away.

He welcomes us every time.

Christmas is a reminder for believers too. A reminder that our hope rests not in our faithfulness, but in His. We rest not because we’ve finally done enough, but because He always has.

And when we forget that… we come again.

Related Resources:

• Christmas Encouragment
• Christmas & Advent Devotionals for the Whole Family
• Fear Not – Luke 2:10
• The Gospel