Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. —Matthew 11:28

When guests at The Houstonian Hotel in Houston, Texas, enter the main lobby on a searingly hot summer day, they are often surprised to see flames dancing in a huge stone fireplace. If it's scorching outside and the air conditioning is humming away, why have a fire burning inside? Because people like to gather around a fire. The gas logs don't produce much heat, but there's something warm, inviting, and relaxing about the flickering light. It seems to say, "Pull up a chair, sit down, and rest awhile."

As I read the Bible, I often sense that weary, anxious people were drawn to Jesus Christ in much the same way that travelers today are drawn toward the fireplace in that Texas hotel. Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). For those who believe in Christ, it's not just temporary relief but eternal rest of soul that stays with them wherever they go.

A Christian who loves Jesus is sometimes said to be "on fire for the Lord." What a great way to describe the warm, inviting presence of Christ that radiates from the lives of His children before the eyes of weary people in a troubled world!

Let's live in such a way that people will see Christ in us and want to gather around the light of His life-giving love.

-DCM

Give as 'twas given to you in your need,
Love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed,
Unto your mission be true.

-Ira B. Wilson

A Christian on fire for God will draw others to the light.