I was watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood with my one-year-old nephew the other day. It was the episode where Daniel has to stay home sick from school.
I didn’t think much about it at the time, but as my 6-year-old has been home sick the past few days, a song from that show randomly popped into my head again — “Rest is Best.”
The message of the song in a nutshell is this: When you’re sick, you need to rest in order to get better.
Pretty simple concept, right?
It’s an instinct really — when our bodies get sick (or even just tired), what do we feel like doing??
Absolutely nothing!!!
Our bodies instinctively tell us to rest.
But there’s more to “resting” than just sleeping 18 hours a day and then lying on the couch watching I Love Lucy reruns for the other 6.
Rest alone will not make us “all-better” – we also need to follow doctor’s orders, eating, drinking, and taking the proper medications to be made whole again.
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Just like our bodies, our souls need rest too.
And while it may sound counterintuitive to get up early for church on a Sunday morning in order to find rest — Jesus says we can only find true rest in Him:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29).
You see, Jesus not only knows we’re tired, he knows the reason we’re tired as well — we’re sick.
Sick and tired. Great combination, right?
We’re sick with a terminal disease called sin — and we’re tired because we spend our daily lives battling the side effects of it — fear, hate, depression, loneliness, insecurity, heartaches and pains…the list could go on and on.
Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Mark 2:17
Jesus is often considered The Great Physician.
And the church? A hospital for the sinners he heals.
If you haven’t yet been healed of your sin, come to Jesus and follow His prescription:
Believe that He is the Son of God.
Confess your faith publicly.
Be baptized for the remission of your sins.
If you’ve already been healed by the Great Physician through belief and baptism, well…let me just say: don’t forget to keep your “follow-up appointments.” 😉
As an oncology nurse, I educate patients about this all the time: a patient may be considered to be in remission after completing their initial cancer treatments, but they should still continue regular follow ups with their physician as directed.
Why?
Well, these follow-ups are often referred to as surveillance visits — where the doctor will monitor and assess for any signs of a recurrence at regularly scheduled intervals.
In much the same fashion, God also calls the church together in weekly intervals — knowing that we need these regularly scheduled “check-ups” to keep us accountable and to make sure the dreadful disease of sin is not overtaking our lives once more.
But more than some sort of a weekly support group for sinners, our weekly worship to God alongside fellow Christians is commanded and designed for the glory of God.
After all, He deserves our thanks and praise more than any earthly physician does.
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To those who overlook the importance of meeting together as a whole body of believers on the first day of the week, let me just say…
When we don’t heed the call to worship God and remember Jesus’s death on the first day of every week, we become like patients who don’t keep their follow up appointments.
Often referred to as being “lost to follow up,” these patients are almost invariably prone to poorer outcomes than the ones who strictly followed the directions of their doctor.
Forsaking the assembly of the church is nothing short of signing yourself out of God’s “hospital for sinners” ASA (against spiritual advice) — putting yourself at high risk of a similarly poor outcome, spiritually speaking. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
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And lastly, there’s always those who rely on WebMD to diagnose and treat their medical problems.
The world says to find rest in self-care, vacations, retail therapy, spa days, fishing with your buddies on the lake, Netflix binges, and the list could go on and on…
But those are just like putting cheap bandaids on a gaping wound.
Jesus says we can find true rest in Him. Rest that’s more than just a bandaid. Rest that will heal our souls.
So who are you going to listen to?
The Great Physician…or some quack on the internet?
I’d go with Jesus, He’s never lost a patient yet. 😉
Oh…and for what it’s worth…His bedside manner is impeccable. 🥰
Until next time…
-PWAP