There are times when I am left feeling rest deprived. Not sleep deprived, but rest deprived! I can get a full night’s sleep and still feel that I just need REST. I need a period of time to stop and everything to come to a complete standstill so I can happily watch the busyness of life drift away for a period of time. Surely I am not the only one with a schedule that leaves you feeling rest deprived at times, and in your heart of hearts, you feel yourself longing for a period of time to just be still?
We are a tired society. If you Google “amount of sleep the average American gets” a lot of information pops up. In the list of search results, I saw that a couple of years ago, we were averaging less than 6 hours of sleep per night when we should be getting somewhere between 7-9 hours; and I don’t imagine that we are doing any better today. But maybe our lack of sleep is really a result of our lack of resting? We seem to be “on the go” more often than not and rest is just an afterthought. Rest is defined as “an instance or period of relaxing or ceasing to engage in strenuous or stressful activity.” Reading that definition just makes rest sound even more amazing and here’s the cherry on top- God longs for us to find rest, enter that rest (His rest) and dwell there! It’s a PROMISED rest that still stands for us today!
My heart was completely engrossed as I read Hebrews 4:1-2, “Therefore, while the promise of entering my (God’s) rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.”
As I sat reading that the “promise of entering His rest still stands” a peace rushed over my heart and soul! Oh to have and dwell in God’s rest amongst all the busyness and amongst all the noise of this world! Maybe this is a longing that you, too, can relate!
Surrounding this promise of rest, though, are some very important elements that cannot be ignored. To reap the full benefit of this promise we have to have a full scope of what Paul was striving to relay to believers everywhere:
- ‘Therefore’- what is the therefore, there for??
- Them- who is ‘them’ in this passage of scripture and how were they presented with them promise of God’s rest?
- The promise comes with a warning- how does this warning apply to us?
- How can we fail to reach God’s rest?
What is the ‘therefore’ there for? If you back up to the verses in chapter 3, we see that Paul implores God’s people to keep a tender heart towards God. God faithfully took care of the Israelites by setting them free from being enslaved in Egypt, miraculously led them through a parted Red Sea, and began leading them down a path headed to the land that God had already promised to His people, Canaan.
In Hebrews 3:10-11 we read, that despite God’s provision and longing to lead them to the place that He had for them, the Israelites continued to “always go astray in their hearts” and therefore, “they would not enter His rest.” Being able to enter into Canaan, God’s Promised Land, is described by God as being able to “enter His rest.” Although God’s people during this time were unable to enter into His place of rest, this is a promise that God is extending to us today! This is a promise that still stands!
- “For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them,”
The ‘them’ in this scripture is the Israelites that God had set free from Egypt.
- “Therefore, while the promise of entering my (God’s) rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.”
It’s a beautiful truth that God’s promise to enter His rest still stands today, but what a great tragedy to fail to reach that place due to the hardness of our hearts and not truly believing God and trusting that His ways are higher than ours. What a tragedy to watch God free you from bondage, perform miracle after miracle and still not be able to benefit from all of God’s goodness and enter that place of true rest all due to a wandering heart. May this serve as a reminder for us to be mindful to constantly keep guard over our hearts! (Proverbs 4:23)
- For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.” Faith was the defining factor in being able to enter true rest!
- Believe – “1. accepting or regarding (something) as true 2. To accept the truth of what is said by (someone)”
- Faith- complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
Self-Reflection:
- What or to whom am I looking to supply my rest?
- What things are preventing me to experience the rest that is being laid out in Hebrews 3:7- 4:13?
- In what ways has my heart to gone astray? How is the current condition of my heart preventing me to enter into the rest that God has for me on a daily basis?
4. Read the definitions of believe and faith and then reflect on how they are different. How does knowing that we must be listeners of God’s word and have faith in it make all the difference in really experiencing true, satisfying rest?
God’s rest still stands for us today! May we faithfully seek after Him with all our hearts!
My soul find rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. Psalm 62:1
Highlighting the hope that we have in Christ! 