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 (KJV).
God is the owner of everything including our lives. The Bible says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Read Psalm 24:1 (KJV). The Apostle Paul relayed this message in no uncertain term to the Corinthians, that their life is not their own, “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.” 1 Corinthians 7:23. A further verse to support Paul’s comments, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son.” Read Colossians 1:3.
Beloved, God has a sovereign claim on our lives and time; and a portion of that time is to be given back to Him. The Westminster Shorter Catechism – what is the chief end of man? “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.” Beloved, the chief end of man is not work or labor, but to rest in the mercy and grace of God for the forgiveness of sin. The Bible says, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” Ephesians 2:19. That is why we are reminded in Exodus 20:8 to “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Remembering the Sabbath is to understand who we are in Christ; “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. The Scripture helps us to understand that as new creatures in Christ, we are to offer spiritual sacrifices to God, hence, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” Read 1 Peter 2:5.
The “Sabbath” is derived from “to rest or cease from work.” The Sabbath does not mean inactivity. Every waking day, we are to be resting from dead works, from sin and from anything that opposes the Word of God. We have been saved not unto ourselves, but unto God. Before the foundations of the earth, God mapped out our lives, we were designed and fitted for the Master’s use. The Bible says, “If a man therefore purge himself from these (which things? departing from iniquity in verse 19), he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:21.
The Psalmist writes, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.” Read Psalm 73:25-28 (KJV).
Heavenly Father, thank You that the perfect work of redemption was completed, through the death, burial, and resurrection of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You Father, for I acknowledge that I am in need of a Saviour, because I am a sinner. Thank You, that we can rest in the finished work! Hallelujah!!
We write. You read. Be encouraged.
Kolumns 