Day 30

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.” — Hebrews 4:9-11

The reason why the writer of Hebrews is retelling the Exodus story in Chapter 4, verses 1 to 11 is not to discourage his readers by saying, “Look what the Israelites did and you are in danger of doing the same thing.” Having given them the bad news of their unbelief and failure to live by faith and dependency upon God, he says, “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.” (Hebrews 4:1)

The writer defines this in verse 9 as a ‘Sabbath- rest’, and he says, “for the people of God, for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.” In other words, he is saying there is a human experience that corresponds with the divineexperience of God’s rest.

Why did God rest at the end of creation on the seventh day? Was He exhausted? No. God is inexhaustible. He rested because He was finished. The Sabbath-rest is not a picture of being tired and needing to recuperate. It is a picture of sufficiency. That’s why Adam’s first day was a day of rest. He was created on the sixth day, and he might have said, “What are we doing tomorrow?” The reply was, “It’s a day off.” Wonderful! Why did Adam have a day off on the first day of his life? Because he was demonstrating the principle of resting in God’s sufficiency.

God rested on the seventh day; man was to rest on the first day, and we are to rest from the first day in total dependency on the sufficiency of Christ. It’s a rest which David speaks about in Psalm 62:1-2, “My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” What is David saying there? That we must learn to live in dependency upon God, because it is in Him alone we find rest for our souls. Are we doing that? Are we living day to day, resting in the sufficiency of Christ in all things?

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, help me to experience that wonderful rest that comes from living day to day in complete dependence upon you. I need nothing more than you in my life, and I thank you, Lord, for your total sufficiency.

To reflect upon: What kind of rest am I experiencing with Jesus as Lord of my life? Does it meet God’s criteria or am I tending to rely on myself?