“Run to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Yes, I know that it actually says “Come to me,” but I looked up the derivation of the word “come” and found it is the Greek word, “deute” which is an exclamatory statement that translates to, “Come! Come now!” That sounds a lot like “run” to me. It is an active, passionate word. You run to the Lord when you realize He is your only hope. You run to the Lord when you realize He wants a personal relationship with you. You run to the Lord when you are being threatened on all sides by enemies. You run to the Lord when no one notices you — you feel invisible — but He sees everything. He’s always there for you. You run to the Lord when you know He is waiting for you with open arms. No dillydallying.

You want to get there as fast as you can. If you have two good legs, you run. If you don’t, you hobble, limp, crawl, or whatever it takes. One man, who was paralyzed, had four friends carry him on a stretcher to Jesus, and when they saw the house in which He was teaching packed with people, they opened up a hole in the roof and lowered him down right in front of Jesus! And He healed the man. Running to the Lord is immediate.

“Let the little children run to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14) This is an easy one. This makes sense because children have so much energy. If Jesus saw a crowd of children and motioned to them to come to Him, do you think they would lazily saunter over? Of course not. They’d run, and crowd around Him. That’s what kids do. And that’s what the kid in us would do, to.

“Run to me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” (Mark 1:17) Run to him and He will give you an adventure of a lifetime. He’ll send you out to get more people to run to Him. How do you do that? By making relationships. Did Jesus train these guys? Did He teach them Theology 101 before He sent the out? No. This is what He told them: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:5-8)

Imagine people running, leaping, climbing over barriers, climbing trees to get to Jesus. What an adventure! Don’t you wish for something like that again? Why not now? If you run to Jesus, you know what He’s going to do: wrap you in his righteousness — allow to to see what He sees, and send you out but not without acknowledging who you are and remind you He loves you.