A Lifetime of Rest!
Today is Labor Day. As a national holiday, most of us are off work. Those who do go to work usually get special perks because it is a holiday. It is a day that reminds us of the sweat and toil that it took to make this nation great – that sweat and toil came from people. People just like you and me who lived and worked hard, and many died in the pursuit of making this nation prosperous. Recognition should be given to all of us who contribute our labor toward the common good.
How would you like to have more than just one day of rest? How would like to have a lifetime of rest? It is possible, the Word says so:
Now God has offered to us the same promise of entering into his realm of resting in confident faith. So we must be extremely careful to ensure that we all embrace the fullness of that promise and not fail to experience it. 2 For we have heard the good news of deliverance just as they did, yet they didn’t join their faith with the Word. Instead, what they heard didn’t affect them deeply, for they doubted. 3 For those of us who believe, faith activates the promise and we experience the realm of confident rest! Hebrews 4:1-3 (TPT)
God Himself is offering us the opportunity to enter into a lifetime of rest. However, it won’t be proclaimed as a national holiday. You must enter into that rest by "confident faith". This rest has been offered to mankind always, yet there have been so many who could not see it being possible, and they missed it. The Israelites during the time of Moses were a people who saw God perform miracle after miracle. With all the nine plagues that hit Egypt, there was not one fly in the land of Goshen. God protected His people from boils and frogs and bloody water. The greatest deliverance was when after instructing His people to put blood on their doorposts, the death angel swept through Egypt killing the first born in every house. Yet, all the houses of the Israelites were protected from this slaughter. Afterwards, Pharaoh had enough and ordered them out of his land to go and worship their God.
It wasn’t long however, that they forgot about the great deliverance from Egypt, including crossing the Red Sea on dry ground!. They went to bickering and complaining and accused Moses of bringing them into the wilderness to die~ You see they had entered into a new land, but not into a place of rest.
You can buy a new house, move to a new state, take on a new job, even engage in your lifetime dream of marrying the love of your life. None of these guarantee you being in a place of rest. Unless of course you discover the magic ingredient, joining your "faith with the Word!"
This week we are going to look at Hebrews 4 and see if we can’t uncover what God is telling us about entering into His Rest. Until then, enjoy your day of rest and think about how great it would be to have a lifetime of rest!
Maria