Suppose a donor laid $1,000 on the table. The donor then said this goes to the first one to pick it up. If no one steps forward to pick it up, is it the donor’s fault that happens or is the money no longer legitimate? Of course not. By the same token, if God makes a promise and no one has faith in their spirit to believe God will fulfill it for them, is His promise of no value or powerless? Do you suppose many of God’s promises have been powerless to you simply because you did not add God’s gift of faith to the promise so it would materialize?
The writer of the book of Hebrews describes a promise of a rest in chapter 3 as the long-sought God supplied promised home specifically for the Jews. In the next chapter, he again promises a rest of a different type not restricted to the Jews. This rest is often called the Sabbath rest because it is like the rest God took after finishing His work of creation (Gen. 2:2). While we cannot relate to the work of creation, we can relate to the striving of our souls that we experience trying to be approved by God or to become like Him. We strain hard to control our environment to be righteous or do righteous works.
It states this rest in the future tense because the Jews never entered that rest. God’s promise was ineffectual for them. He then challenges you and me today by writing, let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience (Hebrews 4:11, NIV). Please understand, this rest is not referring to salvation or Heaven. It is a rest from our labors to be a Christian instead of trusting in and obeying God’s Spirit’s leading to becoming like Jesus. Every effort to enter that rest consists of laying down our anxiety and fully trusting in Him to change us. The faith we receive from Him to do this gives us great confidence in all God will do in and through us—even the painful things. Please know, trusting God this way does not exempt us from pain any more than it exempted Jesus from pain. The rest is within our hearts, not our circumstances. Connie and I are facing the possibility of her dying—that is pain! According to the doctors, she is on the next to last treatment strategy. Yet it the midst of it all, we both have an uncanny gratitude, peace, and confidence that God has it—we do not have to anxiously fight for her to live. The Spirit is promising you and me to zealously step into that kind of divine rest. Incredible!
Paul explains… the promise [of this rest] was based on faith, in order that the promise should be guaranteed as God’s free gift to all of Abraham’s descendants—not just to those who obey the Law, but also to those who believe as Abraham did (Rom. 4:16a, GNB). This means the way to enter this rest is to entirely trust, have strong confidence in and reliance upon the Spirit of God to control and guide your daily life. You grow into that level of trust the more you expose yourself to God through His Word. Paul explains as all of us reflect the Lord’s glory with faces that are not covered with veils [prejudice, selective reading of the Bible, wishful thinking, disobedience, unteachable attitude, etc.], we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18 GW). Our role is to respond to the desire within to know more of God, then gaze upon His awe-inspiring glory as you continue to reflect on what His Words says.
To what extent have you been able to discern transformation happen in how you think and behave over the last 6 months? Can you tell if you are thinking more like Jesus did and sensing a deepening love for God, the type of love Jesus had for His Father and humanity? This is nothing boring about being a growing believer. As a person is discovering new insight into the awesomeness of God, he/she is energized and passionate to act upon what they have learned as well as want to share it with others so they too can experience the joy, peace, and love you feel.