You live a wearied life. You work long hours. Then you come home and have to deal with dinner and dishes, the kids’ homework and activities, mowing the lawn, a trip to the store for groceries, fixing the kitchen faucet, sorting through the mail, and paying the bills.
And if the pressures of work and home aren’t enough, you also have to deal with your sinful flesh. The unkind word you spoke. The grudge you are holding. The covetous desire for more and better and bigger things. The lust, envy, greed, and pride that are never far from your heart. As you well know, the battle wages on day in and day out. The devil does not grow weary in tempting you. The world does not grow weary in enticing you. Their troops are always fresh and their weapons always find their mark. But you, on the other hand, do grow weary. Your sinful flesh wants to waive the white flag of surrender and indulge in the temptation of the moment. But in your struggle against the Old Adam, in your weariness during the battle, do you think that God has forgotten you, that your way is hidden from Him?
Isaiah has some good news for you: “They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). You’ve been renewed before! In fact, you received “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5) in Holy Baptism. It should come as no surprise, then, that by returning to your baptism daily in the drowning of your Old Adam you will also find a renewal of your spirit, faith, and strength as the New Man—Christ in you—emerges.
The Hebrew word “cha-lif” (translated above as “renew”) actually means to “exchange.” Remember the wonderful exchange Christ has made with you? He has taken your filthy rags of unrighteousness and given you the white robe of His perfect righteousness. He has taken your weariness and given you His strength.
“Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden,” says Jesus, “and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Christ is the answer to your weariness. Therefore, weary one, renew your strength in Christ’s words of absolution, in the proclamation of His Word, and in His body and blood. For in these and these alone will you find the rest, forgiveness, and strength your weary soul so desperately needs.
And while you are at it, reach out in love to those around you. Those weary from busy lives or full schedules. Those weary from long work days or endless searching for employment. Those weary from troubled marriages or quarreling families. Those weary from medical problems or tight finances. Reach out to them in their need. Listen to their plight. Offer a helping hand. And don’t be afraid to pray with them and for them.
And then look a little closer at those whom God places in your path, for you might just see something more. Those weary from the weight of their own sinful nature. Those weary from guilt and shame over some past sin. Those weary from trying to do the impossible by pleasing God with their own works. Reach out to them in their need as well. Listen to their plight. Remind them of the rest, forgiveness, and strength you have in Jesus Christ as a free gift by grace. And then invite them to come to church and hear God’s Word with you.
The Apostle Paul writes: “Let us not grow weary in doing good” (Galatians 6:9). You need never grow weary in doing good, for Jesus Christ continues to renew you through baptism, absolution, gospel, and supper for that very purpose. Day in and day out He bears you up with wings like eagles so that you can run to your neighbor in need and not be weary, so that you can walk in the way of the Lord and not faint. In Christ, you now face work and home and even your own sinful flesh with the rest, forgiveness, and strength He so abundantly provides. All because He has renewed you!
