ENTERING REST

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’”

And yet His works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all His works.” And again in the passage above He says, “They shall never enter My rest.”

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.

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 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.

Hebrews 4:1-6, 8-11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I have a confession to make.

I have people very close to me in life that bring me constant worry and concern because they don’t seem to realize that they can’t run wide open all the time. They seem to be in a constant state of exhaustion because they take little time for self care, seemingly believing that their minds and bodies will simply endure the punishment they impose day after day after day. And unfortunately, they fail to realize that their behavior is actually sinful, in violation of God’s command to rest. You may remember these words from Him found in the 20th chapter of Exodus:

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

Ask yourself this:

How well have I done in resting on the seventh day of every single week of my life?

If you’re like me and really being honest, you’re afraid to really answer the question because you know you’ve failed badly in being obedient to what God commanded.

When we go all the way back to the beginning and everything was made, we read where God did all the creation work in six days and then He rested on Day 7 (Genesis 2:1-3), blessing the day and declaring it “holy”.

In other words, the 7th day of every week is to be treated as sacred but here’s what has happened. Christian believers have become acclimated more to the world and its ways than to the command of the Lord God Almighty. This simply means that a majority of Jesus followers have willingly chosen to treat God’s directed holy day just as if it was any other. Unfortunately today, you can’t even recognize the Sabbath because it’s not a day of distinction as it should be.

Now, I’m not writing this to enter into some kind of sword fight over whether Saturday or Sunday is the true Sabbath. God didn’t designate a specific day per se. He said the 7th day so if this is observed on Saturday or Sunday, that’s all that matters. As the popular marketing slogan proclaims, “Just do it!”

So we know God rested on the seventh day and He called everyone who follows Him to do the same. As for God, He really didn’t need to rest. He is omnipotent and never tires so we need to know that He didn’t do it for Himself but rather for us. Before we were even made, God knew we would need to pause from our labors and spend a day free from work, a day where we could refresh our bodies and minds, a day where we could dedicate ourselves to quality time with family, a day when we could set aside time to worship and honor Him in church.

Look at the issues we’re having in our world today in the Christian community in regard to people burning out their lives and relationships within, and I can almost guarantee you that you’ll find a general disregard for the rest God commanded, a rest that Satan wants to keep the Lord’s people from because he knows how harmful and destructive it is to be without respite and relaxation.

Simply put, we all need to enter into rest and do so every seventh day at a minimum. God demanded it and so it’s not an option. All Christians need to stop, self examine, and make whatever corrections are needed to assure this.

Now, before I close this important message, one more thing to say about the Sabbath and resting. For there is still a day to come, the day when all Christians enter into the eternal life promised to them through the redeeming work of Jesus on Calvary’s cross. On that day, we will leave all our labors and troubles of this world behind and guess what we will gain?

That’s right. Rest...forever (Revelation 14:13).

In Heaven, we will be in a constant state of worship and adoration, abiding with our Father God and His Son Jesus for all eternity. It’s a time I find myself looking more and more forward to every day but until that day comes, there’s still much work the Lord has for me to do for the cause of the Gospel.

Except for the seventh day, of course, the holy day appointed by God for rest.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.