https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11%3A28-30&version=NRSVACE (Matthew 11:28-30) A photographer was snapping pictures of first graders at an elementary school, and he was making small talk to put his little subjects at ease. “What are you going to be when you grow up?” he asked one little girl. “Tired,” she said. A lot of tiredness is going around these days. We live in a fast-moving world with lots of pressures, deadlines, problems, and tough circumstances that put us under a lot of stress and can make a person feel very tired. A certain fatigue sets in, a physical fatigue, emotional fatigue, and even spiritual fatigue. It makes our lives feel very flat. I came across a wonderful analogy written by Mike Penninga comparing life to a flat bike tire. On a recent bike trip it wasn’t until I finally arrived home that I noticed something wrong. My tires were low. They needed air. The funny thing about bike tires is I don’t remember taking air out of them. It just went. Somewhere. Somehow. Air leaks. My tires weren’t crazy low, but low enough to know that my efforts in peddling were not producing maximum return. Each rotation was just a little bit harder than it would be had the tires been properly filled. It got me thinking. Life is like a bike tire. We don’t intentionally take air out … it just leaves. And just as it’s harder to peddle with flat tires, it’s not as fun to live when the air has leaked out of our lives. We don’t know where it goes or how. Life just has a way of deflating us. Difficult conversations . . . hisssssss (that’s the sound of air leaving your tires!). Tough day at work . . . hisssssss. Overwhelmed by circumstance . . . hisssssss. It happens to all of us. What about you? Are you going through life with flat tires? How fun is that? It is to the people who are feeling like flat tires that a sweet invitation comes today. Come to me all who weary and are carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. These are the words of Jesus. He has just told His listeners that He and the Father are one. To know Him is to be connected to God. Now He claims to be the Lord of rest. He’s the rest giver. “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” It turns out He is not talking about offering a nap for the body, some advice for the scrambled mind, a breathing exercise, stretching to relax your body, a vacation, how to slow down, or leisure activities. No, He is talking about a deeper sort of rest when He says this. He is talking about rest for the soul. “You will find rest for your soul.” That statement begs the question, What exactly is the soul? How would you answer the question? We know of soul music. Aretha Franklin was the Queen of Soul. I love eating soul food. We talked about the danger of selling your soul. When I was a kid, I was taught, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.” Sports franchises talk of a certain player being the soul of the team. The eyes are described as the windows of the soul. So what exactly is the soul? Dallas Willard, a Christian writer, compares the soul to a stream that needs to be tended. Gordon MacDonald talks about it as an inner garden that needs to be carefully kept. It’s the inner part of you, the life center of human beings. So we hear the soul being addressed – in the book of Psalms for instance. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name” (13:1). All that is within me – that’s what the soul is. We all have one. • It is the deepest part of you. It integrates your will, your mind, and your body. • It is the most important part of you. It needs continual care in order for you to thrive. • It, perhaps, is the easiest part of you to neglect. We work so hard on our external existence and don’t take much time thinking about the soul. That’s not good because it is the most needy part of you. Totally dependent! It has deep desires that long to...