Newton's Law

Legend has it that around 1665, a man named Isaac was hit in the head by an apple and everything changed. This proved to be the catalyst that he needed to formulate his infamous laws of gravity and motion.  Since hearing this story I have perpetually placed myself in positions to replicate his sudden onslaught of wisdom and smartness.  However, all I seem to get is more lumps and bruises on my head.  It is possible that I become even less intelligent with each encounter.  My thick head has been impacted by ice, rocks, tree branches, other heads, the ground, ladders, lumber and logs.

One of Mr. Newton’s infamous laws is that when an object is moving, it will keep moving in the direction that it is moving unless something stops or changes that objects movement.  I remember experiencing the reality of this law a number of years ago as I was pedaling my bicycle on an unfamiliar single track.  I am not a great rider, I don’t take unnecessary risks but I do enjoy pedaling hard and going fast.  In this particular case, I was traveling too quickly to read and comprehend the sign ahead.  I learned after the fact that the sign read, “Jump Ahead,” Which when translated meant, “You are going to regret this if you don’t stop now. You will bleed and hurt, for the love of all that is Holy, please stop your bike now and find another way.” I really wish I had learned to be a better reader in school.

But…I didn’t read the sign…and…I didn’t stop…and I did hurt and I did bleed and I did hit my head…but…I also had an epiphany.  If I had stopped, I could have taken the time necessary to assess the situation and make a wise decision accordingly.  I was reminded of this epiphany this week, as I read Matthew 11:28-12:14.  Here we find that immediately after Jesus offers rest to those who come to him, He is confronted by religious leaders because of his disregard for the “Sabbath.”

The paradox strikes me.  Here Jesus is inviting people to rest and the religious leaders are criticizing him for not resting.  Perhaps, what the religious leaders don’t realize is that they are too busy pedaling their bikes toward the detriment of an injury promising jump to realize that they are not resting at all.  They are in fact heading in the wrong direction to their own demise.  It seems clear to me that Jesus is restoring rest.

I wonder, perhaps it is from a place of rest where we can truly know the next direction that God has for our lives.

May we come to find rest in the Rest Giver.