thecrump

Hebrews 3:18-19 "And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."

Rest is a beautiful thing. I remember as a teenager, I loved Saturdays. No rush to get up in the morning or school work on the horizon.  I was able to get up whenever I wanted and then dive straight into a round of Super Mario World or flip on the TV to find Saved By the Bell waiting for my attention. No pressures, no frustration....no work.

Even today I love Saturdays. I may not slink out of bed at 11 o'clock (mainly because the kids get hungry WAY before then) but there is a restfulness to most Saturdays. Even now, I am sitting in my recliner, spending time meditating on God's Word, writing and listening to the kids argue about who gets to hold the cat next. My only job is to make sure David does not hold the cat by her neck (that can be a full time job in an of itself). 

Why is rest such a blessing to us? I believe it's for a couple reasons.

1) God wired us to rest. This is why we need sleep. This is why we crave time off from the everyday grind. This is why we rejoice in vacations. (Of course, we must be careful not to cross the line from rest into laziness). 

2) It points to a greater picture of our rest in Christ. Whether the world believes it or not, on those Saturdays (or any day) where they take time to rest they are entering into a physical picture of a spiritual reality. Since we are made to worship God, when we take time to rest we are taking part in something God established from the beginning of time (Genesis 1). 

What is this spiritual reality I speak of? It's the rest we see mentioned in Hebrews 3 and 4. This rest is understood through faith and is found in Christ. Jesus worked like no other man on the earth ever did. He lived a perfect life, living up to every command of God's law.  The law that we could never fulfill, Jesus fulfilled within His 33 years on the earth. The demands of God were met by His perfect actions so that we could trust in Him and find rest.  

What rest? Rest from working to please God. Rest from anxiety over whether God would accept us or not. Rest from fear of condemnation. We rest because Jesus worked. 

Hebrews 4:9-10 " There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His."

When God rested on the seventh day it was a declaration to all of creation of a coming rest for mankind. That rest comes through Jesus who is Lord of the Sabbath. He IS our rest. No longer do we need to be burdened with religion or self-righteousness. Instead we can trust in the Son of God who worked on our behalf. This is not a lazy rest, but a rest that allows us to serve the Lord without fear of rejection. We can obey God, knowing we are His and He is ours. This rest is much better than Saturday morning rest; we'll experience this rest for all eternity.