Rest at the Lake

Lighten Your Load

“My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” — Matthew 11:30

When the kids are out of school for the summer, families escape for weeks at a time to a lake house. This longer-term vacation means that the chores of everyday life are part of the trip. Take laundry, for instance: the lake environment provides plenty of opportunities for the family to get their clothes dirty, whether it’s ketchup from last night’s burger cookout or mud from wading along the shoreline. Either way, the laundry piles up in each room and eventually, although it is vacation time, someone has to put the clothes in the wash.

Simple tasks and daily duties are a necessary part of the fabric of our lives. This fabric can get bogged down with dirt and make life feel heavy. The One who created the fabric offers to do our laundry. We can hand Him the material of our lives, and He will lift it into His presence to clean it and make it like new. Freshly washed and dried clothes feel lighter and carry a refreshing scent. So do our freshly laundered lives.

God, thank You for offering to scrub my soul when it gets weighed down by dirt and stains. I trust You to make me clean and refreshed. Amen.

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Nap in Grace

It is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. — Ephesians 2:8

A daybed with white linen sheets or a couch with a light summer blanket at the lake house is a resplendent refuge for a midday nap. The curtains are closed, and you curl up on the bed under the light, cushiony covering. Your head sinks down into the pillow and you breathe in its fresh, crisp case. Perhaps a furry friend joins you. Your thoughts start to slow and your body relaxes, each muscle loosening its grip and giving way to the mattress’s comforting hold.

Naps are pleasant and refreshing. When our muscles stop working and relax, they get the rest they need to function smoothly. Grace works in a similar way — it’s like taking a nap for your soul. Grace has been given to us as a gift in full measure. Our own efforts to make ourselves fit for heaven and good enough for God are futile and tiring. We have to start with a nap, soaking in God’s grace. This means relaxing in our own attempts at working for salvation. It sounds too good to be true that God’s grace could be enough, but it is. We can find rest for our souls and hide away for a midday nap in God’s grace. When we arise, we are prepared to exercise our moral muscles in godly activities.

Father, when I start trying to gain Your acceptance through my own efforts and tire myself out, draw me away for a nap in Your grace. Amen.

Excerpted with permission from Devotions from the Lake by Betsy Painter, copyright Thomas Nelson.

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Your Turn

Do you have a family vacation planned? Maybe to the lake? Take advantage of summer breaks to rest in the Lord, spend time with Him, and take lots of naps in the afternoon! Let’s allow this summer to be filled with God’s grace! Come share your thoughts with us on our blog. We want to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily

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