I will give you rest

Mark the simplicity of the invitation: 'Come.' One word will hold the gospel. There is no waiting, no preparing, no purifying first. Come as you are — labouring, heavy laden, half-believing, only feeling the burden — come.

And note who is invited: 'all ye that labour.' Wherever you labour and find no rest, the invitation is for you. Are you labouring to keep the law? Come. Labouring to find God in your own works? Come. Labouring under sin? Come.

The promise is not 'I will help you to rest' but 'I will give you rest.' It is rest by gift, not by effort. Christ has done the work, and he gives the rest. Come and have it.