This is part of “The Formative Path” a 2024 Fall Sermon Series at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana. For more information and the Weekly Reflection Sheets, go to https://ponderingpassages.com/category/path/

Some days, when they’re over, I just want to fall into bed. Maybe it’s been a bad day full of challenges, difficulties, and disappointments. Maybe it’s been a good day filled with joy, excitement, and opportunities. Either way, life can wear us down and wear us out. Over time, we become weary. Wouldn’t it be nice to find rest? Not rest that is only the absence of activity, but real, deep, soul-restoring rest. Maybe deep down, we are all looking for that kind of rest, but it’s elusive. It seems so close, but the closer we get, the further away it seems.

In Matthew 11:28, Jesus invites all who are weary and burdened to come to him for rest. He invites all to work with him or, in Jesus’ words, to be yoked to him. Jesus tells us to learn from him; as we do, we find the kind of rest we desire.

Jesus invites us to find rest in him by learning from him, but how do we do that?

We learn from him as we read scripture, pray, serve others, and engage in spiritual practices. Those activities aren’t to gain more knowledge or information; instead, they are so we can be transformed moment by moment.

Every moment of every day is pregnant with God’s presence. Spiritual practices help us be aware of God. However, spiritual practices are not the goal. The goal is to encounter God and be aware of God’s presence so that we might become like Jesus. There’s a danger of seeing spiritual practices as effective even when we “go through the motions,” but that’s not the case.

John Wesley wrote:

 “Before you use any means let it be deeply impressed on your soul: There is no power in this. It is in itself a poor, dead, empty thing: separate from God, it is a dry leaf, a shadow.… Settle this in your heart, that the opus operatum, the mere work done, profiteth nothing; that there is no power to save but in the Spirit of God, no merit but in the blood of Christ; that consequently even what God ordains conveys no grace to the soul if you trust not in him alone.”

Wesley referred to spiritual practices as “the means of Grace” and pointed out that they have no power in and of themselves. Any practice is only effective if our hearts are open to God. 

As you pray, read scripture, or some other spiritual practice, make sure your heart is focused and centered in Jesus because “there is no power to save but in the Spirit of God.” As you do, may you be transformed moment by moment.