Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Hebrews 4:1
We were travelling along a road that ran beside a range of mountains. At one point, we crossed through that range to the other side. The road went through a pass between two mountain peaks, and it was a steep climb to the summit of that pass. When we reached the top, we encountered a sign, warning us to make use of the various rest stops on the way down the other side. Because the road was so steep and winding, the sign told us, the brakes on our car would overheat and leave the vehicle vulnerable to a crash. We heeded the warning. Those rest stops gave us confidence that we could safely descend that steep road. God has valuable rests too, for his people on our way to Heaven.
The first rest we enjoy is peace with God. We had no rest when we were the enemies of God. We were like the people of Biafra who were in a civil war with the government of Nigeria in the 1960s. During the two and a half years while the war endured, more than two million Biafrans starved to death and the others struggled to barely survive. But when the Biafran troops surrendered in 1970, Nigeria and other countries flooded Biafra with food and other supplies, as much as they needed. When we surrendered to Christ, we too entered into an abundance of blessings in Him. It was His rest of peace.
He also has a rest of deliverance from the bondage of sin. We were once in bondage that prevented us from doing anything but sin. With our salvation, that bondage is lifted. True, we still sin, but we are no longer bound to it, just as we are no longer bound to the requirements of the law. Instead of trying to do what we could to please God, we rest in the assurance that God has accepted what Christ did to please Him.
God’s rest is not only a rest of deliverance from bondage, but it is also a rest of freedom to serve and worship God according to His Word. The Bible becomes a living Book that guides and directs us into obedience to our Lord and appreciation of Himself. We rest in the joy of gathering with His people into His presence to obey His words.
We read of a time when God rested, when He had completed the work of creation, when He rested and blessed the seventh day (Genesis 2:2,3). God was satisfied that all was good. That’s a rest for us today, as we enjoy the satisfaction of the completeness of the work of Christ for us. It is also a rest of hope for us, as we enter into the reality of what God has prepared for us for all eternity. That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7).
Oh, what a wonderful rest God has for His people! How much of that rest are we enjoying today? -Jim MacIntosh