for it. That was all. But He would not make it for them. For one thing
it was not in His plan to make it for them; for another thing, men
were not so planned that it could be made for them; and for yet
another thing, it was a thousand times better that they should make it
for themselves.
That this is the meaning becomes obvious from the wording of the
second sentence: "Learn of me, and ye shall _find_ Rest." Rest, (that
is to say), is not a thing that can be _given_, but a thing to be
_acquired_. It comes not by an act, but by a process. It is not to be
found in a happy hour, as one finds a treasure; but slowly, as one
finds knowledge. It could indeed be no more found in a moment than
could knowledge. A soil has to be prepared for it. Like a fine fruit,
it will grow in one climate, and not in another; at one altitude, and
not at another. Like all growth it will have an orderly development
and mature by slow degrees.
The nature of this slow process Christ clearly defines when He says
we are to achieve Rest by _learning_. "Learn of me," He says, "and ye
shall find rest to your souls."