Throw Away Your To-Do List

Start Fresh: Living Rested in an Exhausting World

Scripture References

Primary text

• Genesis 1
• Matthew 11

Other references

• Genesis 1:27
• Matthew 3

Overview

The message calls weary, over-busy people to trade an exhausting, performance-driven rhythm for God’s original rhythm that begins with rest. Jesus invites, “Come to Me… and I will give you rest,” and Genesis 1 shows that God designed each day to start at sundown—rest first, work second. Trusting what God has already done (“His to-done list”) frees us from proving our worth through endless to-do lists and lets us work from approval, not for it.

Main Points

1. Our lives feel overstuffed and overloaded

• New-Year resolutions and goals can quickly become overwhelming—there never seems to be enough time.
• Illustration: Family camping trip packing challenge: every inch of the car jam-packed, rear end dragging—just like life packed with commitments.
• Harvard survey: 70 % describe life as “busy” or “very busy.”
• Common greeting: “Doing great… but busy,” reveals a culture running on empty.

2. Jesus offers a different way (Matthew 11)

• Jesus sees weary, burdened people and says, “Come to Me… I will give you rest.”
• His “yoke” is easy and light, contrasting with the heavy loads we place on ourselves.
• Rest is more than sleep; it’s the condition of the soul that trusts Christ’s sufficiency.

3. God’s creation rhythm starts with rest (Genesis 1)

• Repetition in the creation poem—“There was evening and there was morning”—signals importance; the day begins with rest.
• For Israelite slaves whose value was tied to brick quotas, God declared a new identity: valued before producing anything.
• Key line: “To rest is to trust that what God has done is enough.”

4. God’s “to-done list” outweighs our to-do list

• Story: While drafting this sermon, Tim’s legal pad filled with worries (“What if it’s not good enough?”). His wife’s pencil note—“I love you desperately and I’m so proud of you”—stopped him short; he was striving for what had already been freely given.
• At Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3), the Father says, “This is My Son, whom I love… with Him I’m well pleased” before Jesus performs a single miracle—approval precedes performance.
• For every believer, God has already created, saved, healed, adopted, and gifted us; we begin the day already loved.

5. Rest and work are partners, not enemies

• Rest prepares us to work; work flows from rest.
• We no longer chase titles, likes, or side hustles to prove value—we serve out of secure identity.

6. Practising rhythms of rest

• Rest = anything that focuses you on God’s goodness.
  • Sleep, worship music, Scripture, laughter, a walk, shared meal, sexual intimacy within marriage, prayer, time outdoors.
• Three biblical rhythms:
  1. Daily – moments before rising or before sleep that re-anchor in God’s truth.
  2. Weekly – Sabbath-like block (church gathering, lunch with friends, unplugging).
  3. Seasonal – extended feasts, vacations, retreats that celebrate God’s provision after intense work seasons.

7. Which smile will mark 2023?

• Illustration: Photo from the stuffed camping car—Dad’s forced grin (trying hard) vs. kids’ carefree smiles (trusting big).
• As 2023’s journey begins, followers of Jesus can wear the trusting smile, confident that the trip is packed, paid for, and headed to the right destination.

Key Truths

• God’s day begins with evening; life was designed to start from rest, not work.
• Rest is an act of trust that God’s completed work is enough for us.
• Our worth is received from the Father, not achieved by production or performance.
• Work becomes joyful service when it flows from a rested heart.
• Regular rhythms of rest—daily, weekly, seasonal—keep us anchored in God’s goodness.

Response

• Accept Jesus’ invitation to come to Him for soul-rest.
• Build a daily practice that fixes your mind on God before tackling tasks.
• Schedule a weekly block (church, meal, unplugged time) that reminds you who you are apart from productivity.
• Plan seasonal breaks that celebrate God’s provision and recharge your body and spirit.
• When anxiety rises, put the pen down, recall God’s “to-done list,” and thank Him out loud.

Closing

Jesus does not merely offer a fresh start each January; He invites us to start fresh every day—resting first, then working from His finished work. The question is whether we will keep forcing a strained grin of self-effort or relax into the wide smile of trust.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Prayer

The pastor thanked God for being with us as we enter a new year (or even an ordinary Tuesday), asked for help to trust His finished work, and prayed for those ready to surrender their lives to Jesus, receiving forgiveness, new life, and a new rhythm of rest.