Hebrews, chapter three,
gives the account of Israel forfeiting their chance to enter Canaan, the land
of promise, because they relied too heavily on their human reasoning. Hebrews,
chapter four, is one of the most healing chapters in the Bible. It promises us
eternal rest for our weary soul (Psalm 95:11).
This is not simply eternal rest after death, but eternal rest while we are
still living (Genesis 2:2). Few
people ever really enter God’s rest, because they do not have the faith to let
go and let God take over their life (Hebrews 4:1-2).
The people of God everywhere
in every generation have this opportunity to have abundant life now (Psalm
95:7-8). However, we fail through
unbelief to enter the rest promised to us from the foundation of the world (Hebrews
4:3-9). If we choose to believe God’s
Word, we enter His rest through the door of salvation in Christ (John 10:9). The next step is to cease from our stress and
striving. We do this by allowing God to give us the desire and ability to
follow His Spirit, rather than to deal with life from our human resources (Hebrews
4:10; Philippians 2:12-13; Ephesians 2:8-9).
God calls all those who
strive and are burdened to come to Him, so He can give us rest (Matthew
11:28). The only time God ever
encourages us to strive in the Bible is to strive to enter the narrow door of
salvation and then to strive to enter His rest. It is not easy to lay down our
will and ambition and to surrender completely to the will of God and the
direction of His Holy Spirit (Hebrews 4:10-11). However, God even gives us the gift of the faith and grace to enter
His rest (Ephesians 2:8-9). We
only need to receive it whole-heartedly.
God’s Sabbath rest is a way
of life, not an occasional experience (Hebrews 4:11). We spend time every day digesting His Word, which
is sweeter than honey (Psalm 119:103). The Word of God cleanly separates our fleshly thoughts and actions from
our spirit-led ones, and it demonstrates God’s power, truth and ability in us
and through us (Hebrews 4:12-13). We
hide His Word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11),
and it gives us constant direction and delight (Psalm 119:24). Bible truth is nourishment for our soul and a light
to our path (Proverbs 3:8; Psalm 119:105).
We allow God to work through
us, not from the basis of our own effort and energy, but by obedience to His
Spirit. We cling to, trust in and depend upon Jesus as He uses us to do His
works in the earth (John 3:18, Amplified Bible). His Word cleanses, heals and delivers us from sin, sickness and Satan’s
oppression (Psalm 107:20, 119:9; Matthew 8:8, 8:16; John 15:3,
Ephesians 5:26). The eternal rest in our
spirit and soul are available to anyone humble enough to cease from his/her own
efforts and to walk in the Spirit moment by moment throughout the day (Galatians
5:16,25).
Prayer:
Father God, Your Word
provides us with strength, productivity, fulfillment and peace (Psalm 1:3,
119:28). It gives us Your roadmap to
peace in this life. You grant rest to Your people and You chose us as Your
eternal residence (1Chronicles 23:25).
You rested from Your works and gave us Your example, so we will rest from our
labors as well (Hebrews 4:4,10). We
enter Your eternal rest only if we believe and trust in You (Hebrews
4:3). Help us all to attain Your rest (Hebrews
4:1). Allow Your Word to teach us to
discern between the flesh and the spirit and always to follow Your Spirit (Hebrews
4:12).
Thought for the Day:
Through God’s Word, His
Spirit and His presence in our life, we enter into His rest. 