Word for 2024 - Rest (Bot9 #375)

I’m five years into my One Word journey and I look forward to the process each year. Instead of any sort of list of resolutions, I seek a word of inspiration to guide your upcoming year. This process has been popularized by Jon Gordon and I know a number of people who now participate in the annual exercise.

My words have been INVITE, ENGAGE, and RECEIVE. Each word have provided a unique journey for the year, both in the moment and in reflection. Invite has transformed my life in how I invite God into so many moments each day, and how I invite others into what I’m doing. Engage has helped me to both engage in more conversations and in more opportunities. Receive has been my word for the past two years and what I’ve seen the Lord do in my life through it has been extraordinary.

While I have certainly reflected and prayed over my word for the upcoming year previously, I can safely say that I’ve never had such a physical reaction to a word for the coming year in the same way as I have this year. I feel my pulse slow, my breathing ease, and a sense of peace when I align with this year’s word for 2024.

My word for 2024 is REST. With that said, I’m going to spend a few weeks writing about and creating a better definition around the word. If you know me, this isn’t going to be a year of sitting around, feet up in the basement watching sports and movies, taking the occasional nap. No, in part, it has everything to do with the pace of life and the work being accomplished.

The verse that will help me define rest comes from Matthew 11:28-30 and reads, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

There are a couple of interesting things about this verse that I find interesting. First, many will stop at verse 28 when leaning into the idea of rest. They would read it as, “Come to Jesus when you’re overwhelmed, and He will give you the rest you need.” In our world, we might interpret that to mean that when we work ourselves to the bone, Jesus will give you some time off. But verses 29 and 30 infer that there’s work to be done.

Jesus says “take my yoke upon you.” There’s a picture of the yoke above here, for those of us who have never stepped foot on a farm. A yoke is deigned for two large animals (cow, ox, etc.) to plow a field together. So, by using the word “yoke”, Jesus is implying that there is work to be done. It’s the pace of work and who you’re inviting into your work that becomes the most important elements of achieving rest.

A yoke, in part, is designed to keep the two working at the same pace. A farmer will often partner a younger animal with an older animal in a yoke to train the younger one as to the appropriate pace of work. When working too fast or too slow, the younger animal will experience pain from the yoke. As the animals work together more, they’ll work at the same pace, plowing the field with the most effectiveness. This is part of achieving rest in the coming year - working at the pace of Jesus. This is what I meant earlier when I said I’m starting to feel alignment with this word already. There’s a constant checking in via prayer and reflection where I feel the pace of the moment. This gives me some indication that we’re working at the same pace.

The second part of this idea of rest is inviting others, Jesus and co-workers, into the work of the world with me. Invite was my first one word and this is vital to the idea of rest. In our country, people value how much the amount of work and individual can accomplish. Unfortunately, this focus on an individual misses the power of how much we can do in unison with others.

One of my favorite stories, true or not, is about a contest with Belgian workhorses. As the story goes, there once was a contest where owners brought their horses together to see which horse could pull the most weight. After determining the winners, the contest organizers decided to see how much weight the horses could pull together. Instead of double the output, the organizers were surprised to discover that the horses pulled 3-4 times as much together. Even more surprising was that horses who knew and worked with each other previously pulled 4-5 times as much as they could have individually.

Obviously inviting other teammates into the work that needs to be accomplished will allow us to accomplish great things in 2024. Now imagine if I take the time to invite Jesus into everything I do as well? Instead of simply relying on my own strength, what would it look like to invite the power of the one who raised others and Himself from death into the work that needs to be accomplished day to day, moment by moment? This is the kind of rest I’m seeking in the coming year.

Because rest is such a complex subject, I’m going to spend more time fleshing the concept out in the coming weeks. I hope you also have a word for 2024 and look forward to you sharing them with me. Whatever your word is, may the coming year be a great one for all of you!