I was never much into scouting. I did spend some time as a Webelo. I don’t remember much of it except you could do some crazy stuff with dry ice. Since I don’t want to be a bad influence on some of my mischievous friends who might be looking for an opportunity, we’ll leave those details alone.

At some point in my short-lived scouting adventure, I started getting the Boy Scouts magazine, Boy’s Life. It was full of wholesome adventures and positive stories.

One such story has stayed with me for over 50 years. This specific yarn was about a campout and a campfire devotional. Each camper was asked to share their favorite Bible passage or verse. One camper, who had little Bible knowledge compared to his fellow campers, struggled to come up with a verse, much less a favorite passage. But then he remembered what is often referred to as the shortest verse in the Bible: John 11:35 simply says, “Jesus wept.”

That may have been the most powerful verse any of those campers heard. If you don’t know the reference, it comes from the gospel account of the death of Lazarus, Jesus’s friend. As Jesus experienced the grief of Lazarus’s family and friends, He wept in His humanity just before raising Lazarus from the dead through His divinity.

That story has stuck with me ever since. It has been a favorite verse during the ensuing years. I take comfort in a Savior who grieves with me during my heartache.

But that’s not my only favorite passage of scripture. If you twisted my arm and forced me to claim one passage as my bona fide, hands down, all-time favorite, I’d almost always land on Matthew 11:28-30…

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (CSB)

It’s not hard to feel burnt out in this life. It’s quite easy to feel burdened — by the past, your present, your future, and even by religious decrees. Indeed, the psalmist says about God: “My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.” (Psalms 63:1 b NLT)

Thankfully, Jesus calls us to come to Him — to come, learn, and find rest; to drink deeply of the water of life.

That’s a message I can use every day.

I hope you have found the Savior. I pray that you know the peace that only Jesus can give.

Les Ferguson Jr. grew up in Vicksburg and is a 1980 graduate of Warren Central High School. He holds a B.A. in Bible from Magnolia Bible College and an M.A. in New Testament Preaching from Johnson University. He lives and ministers in Oxford, Mississippi and is the author of “Still Wrestling—Faith Renewed through Brokenness.” He can be reached at lfergusonjr@gmail.com.