Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest. Hebrews 4:1

Saint Augustine’s well-known quote about rest is: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” 

Beloved, rest for the weary is a wonderful thing. As believers, we can sometimes become war or world weary of the daily vicissitudes of life. Therefore, embracing God’s rest is a huge relief. Of our own, we do not have the capacity to manufacture rest. What then is rest? It is relief from work and worry. Real and eternal rest comes from faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ. Watch this, rest is not inactivity, we must be diligent to enter into His rest, the Bible tells us.

The children of Israel wandered in the desert, and as a consequence, their hearts went astray, and did not know His ways. Therefore, they forfeited entering into God’s rest. The Bible says, “For forty years I loathed that generation, and said they are a people who wander in their heart, and they do not know My ways. Therefore I swore in My anger, they shall never enter into My rest.” Read Psalm 95:10-11 (KJV). Beloved, are you wandering away from God’s truth and seeking your own way? The Bible counsels, “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Read Acts 3:19 (LSB).

The promise of His rest for every true believer in Christ includes His ‘peace, confidence of salvation, reliance on His strength and assurance of a future heavenly home.’ The Bible says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Read Matthew 11:29 (LSB). In other words, rest from fruitless toil, struggles, and finding permanent respite in the Sovereignty and grace of God.

As believers in Christ, we must examine our own spiritual condition, and seek to constantly commit our lives into His hands. We should not be too comfortable in our current spiritual state, instead we should seek to do 1 Corinthians 10:12 (LSB), “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.” Listen to this, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” Read 2 Corinthians 13:5 (LSB).

Beloved, I want to encourage you with these words, God is not a debtor to any man. Recall the Bible says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not establish it?” Read Numbers 23:19 (LSB). Knowing and embracing this truth, will lead you to rest in His sovereignty and self-sufficiency.

We write. You read. Be encouraged.