Come As You Are - Thursday, 04/16/2026

Song: "Come As You Are" (Crowder) [Click here to listen to the song.]

Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30

"Come out of sadness from wherever you've been — come, broken-hearted, let rescue begin."

— Devotion —

One of the most persistent lies the enemy whispers is this: get yourself together first, then come to God. It sounds almost reasonable — even humble. But it is a lie that keeps countless people at arm's length from the very grace that could transform them.

Sharon Sinclair, who requested this song for our service, put it plainly: it tells us to come as broken people and lay it all at the feet of Jesus. She added her favorite line — "Earth has no sorrow that heaven can't heal" — and described how it sustains her when she feels like giving up. That is not a small testimony. That is exactly what this song, and the gospel, is designed to do.

Jesus' invitation in Matthew 11 requires nothing of us except that we come. "Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Not come once you've lightened the load. Not come when you feel worthy. Come now — as you are, with exactly what you're carrying. The yoke offered in return is easy and the burden is light because Christ carries the weight with you.

The scandal of grace is that God does not wait for our best. The Holy One receives our worst and calls it enough to begin. This does not mean we are left unchanged — God's rest leads to transformation. But the transformation begins not with our effort, but with our arrival.

Whatever you are carrying into this Thursday — exhaustion, shame, doubt, grief, or just the accumulated weight of ordinary life — you do not have to clean it up before bringing it to Jesus. God already knows. God is already ready. Come as you are.

Reflection Question: What have you been waiting to "fix" about yourself before fully surrendering it to God?

Action Step: Identify one burden, habit, or wound you have been managing on your own. Today, in a simple, spoken prayer, bring it to Jesus exactly as it is — no cleaning it up first.

Prayer: Gracious God, we come as we are — not as we wish we were. We are weary in places we rarely show, and we need Your rest. Receive us today, not for our worthiness but for Your grace. Begin in us whatever You need to begin. Amen.