“Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.” Hebrews 4:1
November 6, 2024
Do you need some rest? Many of us do after two years of nonstop political campaigning. The author of Hebrews writes to Hebrew Christians to appeal to them to enter into God’s rest. We are told that God Himself rested on the seventh day (Heb. 4: 4). God did not need a nap. The rest believers in Jesus Christ need is the satisfaction of obeying God. A warning is issued (Heb. 3:7-4:13). We can get caught up in the value system of the world around us. We can grow lazy. We drift. We lose perspective and fall back into old ways of thinking and living. We trivialize the consequential and elevate the inconsequential. A spiritual hard heart is an awful thing. It kept a generation of Israelites from possessing the Promised Land (Psa. 95:7-11). We don’t lose our salvation but can lose our participation in the blessings and joy of Christian living and rewards God has promised. Stop. Take stock. Are you drifting away from God’s Word, an active prayer life, fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ, serving others in need of care and comfort? Has complaining taken over your outlook on difficulties? If you do not go forward in laying hold of the promises of God bound up in obedience, drifting backward leads to divine discipline and loss of future rewards.
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“O Lord of Sabbath rest, keep my feet moving in the walk of faith. Keep me on the cutting edge of overcoming sin and resting in enjoying your commands.”