0729 ENTERING HIS REST

JULY 29 = HEBREWS 4

ENTERING HIS REST

Chapter four picks up where 3 had left off, and we find that the concept of the sabbath rest was (and is) truly important to God and essential for us. 

You remember the original sabbath, right? Certainly, the Hebrews who were receiving this letter knew it well. Way back at the beginning of creation, God finished his work after six days, and he rested on the seventh. And he blessed the seventh day. And he gave that day of rest to us, as a blessing, not just as a law. As Jesus said, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. Because it is about rest.

On that subject of rest comes this subject of the “rest” that comes from God. His intention of the Promised Land was to be a land of rest for his people.

Let’s see what the author says:

“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.” 

Entering his rest. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Unless, of course, you do something to have fallen short of it. How could that happen?

“Now we who have believed enter that rest,…”

So belief is what it takes to enter that rest of God’s. Belief in the good intentions of our Heavenly Father. Belief that Jesus can and will bring us into that rest. Faith to stop our addiction to work and receive the promise.

Next question. How do we get there? When do we go? When is that seventh day, or where is that promised land? The writer goes on to explain:

“Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 

Sounds like the answer to my questions of how and when are answered here. We enter that rest by not hardening our hearts, and by believing the good news through Jesus. This is fantastic news! God is offering us, not a religion, and not a to-do list of commandments, but a rest, a relationship, a fellowship with his spirit in which we cease from our labors.

And the writer concludes the topic this way:

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.”

We make every effort to enter that rest. And having made every effort, we rest from our works. It is a Sabbath, a resting that follows six days of work. It is the opposite of perishing, which some do through their disobedience.

And then the chapter holds one of those essential verses about Scripture as the word of God. Here’s what it says,

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Can you divide between your soul and your spirit? I think the spirit is a sub-part of the soul. But I cannot distinguish the difference. Can I distinguish between joints and marrow? Perhaps a surgeon can, but it is beyond me. How about the thoughts and attitudes of my heart? I have thoughts. I have attitudes. But only the word of God, in the hands of a skillful heavenly surgeon, can know the difference and address the particular needs of my inner self.

Thanks be to God that we are so well known and so well loved. Amen.