So we see that they were unable to enter (His rest) because of unbelief.
Therefore,
while the promise to enter His rest remains,
let us fear that none of you should miss it.
-Hebrews 3:19/4:1
again, He specifies a certain day — today —:
"Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts."
for whoever has entered God’s rest
has also rested from his works
as God did from his.
Let us therefore
strive to enter that rest,
so that no one may fall
by the same sort of disobedience.
For the word of God is living and active,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,
of joints and of marrow, and discerning
the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
And no creature is hidden from his sight,
but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
-Hebrews 4:10-13
Whoa. This whole idea and call to rest is a bit befuddling at first. I mean, it sounds strange to say "strive to enter into that rest!" Because all that striving does not feel like it would be restful. So then the two must be separate experiences. To strive and then to rest.
But there is a warning at the end of chapter 3 in Hebrews that those who are unable to enter God's rest (which is the absolute sense of the word "rest" in its highest esteem--meaning it's the real kind of rest: relaxed, at peace, sound mind, sound body, comfortable, secure, finished, joyful sighs, warm hearts, etc) are unable due to unbelief.
Then in chapter 4 it brings to light the fact that there is now the promise of entering God's perfect rest with Him (through the blood of Jesus) for a time. There is now a time that we can enter that rest, but we must battle unbelief to do so. Unbelief prohibited some from entering rest and it will prohibit you and I from entering His rest as well.
So the author explicitly exclaims:
Therefore,
while the promise to enter His rest remains,
let us fear that none of you should miss it.
This means that some of us could and will miss it! And that's scary. To miss entering God's rest is to miss resting for eternity! Imagine never being able to rest or be at peace or comfortable and relaxed! Imagine always feeling unstable, unsure, anxious, panting, and exhausted....forever!
But the good news is that we live, today, in the promise that we can enter His rest (thanks to Jesus!), but instead of directing our fears at this problem or that circumstance, we must fear more greatly at possibly walking ourselves out of God's rest! It is like saying you should be more scared that you are not finding rest than that you are not doing enough!
Does that make sense?
Most of us fear that we are not doing enough. We fear losing our value when we are not productive.
We fear wasting time.
We fear taking on big projects.
We fear developing new friendships.
We fear all kinds of things that sound a lot like work, but do we fear our ability to find rest?
The words sound strange.
"for whoever has entered God’s rest
has also rested from his works
as God did from his."
-Hebrews 4:10
Do I fear that I am not resting from all my doing things....things I think are for God?
What would it look like to do "work" that was in actuality a rest from real work? I feel that the world has done a compelling job at convincing me what is work and what is rest. Yet God says that we are to enter into His rest away from our working. So what does that mean?
I believe it means what most of God's desires point to, and that is to love God with all our hearts. When we love someone the things we do for them are revealed as no longer a task, but a fulfillment of joy. When you love God (which of course is only possible when you experience His most deep love for you) suddenly you see His commands to serve, feed the poor, take care of widows, clothe the naked, visit prisoners, and give generously (your time, money, and love) to others--these "works" become revealed as rest! Sounds insane, I know. Because sometimes I still want to work! It sounds insane because doing those things as rest means they bring no merit to me. Merit for something means I worked for it. I worked to earn my good standing by doing good works, but when my good works are no longer good works but rest, then I have done only what I wanted to do. And that's crazy because who WANTS to do all of those self sacrificing things?
Well, the answer to that is people who love do.
I find rest in doing these things, which happens because the truth is opened to me. However, this truth is not something that happens to me in an instant. I am striving to believe this truth. That sacrificing myself is resting.
I am striving to eat the gospel everyday. I strive to enter into God's rest because His rest is the only real and lasting rest.
"Let us therefore
strive to enter that rest,
so that no one may fall
by the same sort of disobedience."
If I stop striving to enter God's rest, I will be forfeiting rest altogether. It may feel easier not to strive for such a revelation of rest because I want rest to be instantaneous and sort of passively happen to me as I choose, but what does it mean to rest if not a rest in and with God? It means, for me, that I will rest in the way I can. I can rest by taking a nap, sitting on a couch, watching a movie, or eating what I want at a table with cushioned chairs. My ability to rest goes as far as that, and really no further. My ability to rest is also contingent upon my working or striving for rest. I strive to make money or make time to buy those couches, pick up movies, prepare a meal, and make more money for more time to be able to take naps. We all strive to rest, but resting in our ability goes as far as we work for it. Resting in and with God goes as far as our ability to not work for it.
Hahahaha. Which one sounds more like real rest? Perhaps they both sound pretty restful to you because you think working and resting should go together. That is true. The point is that working and resting do go together but resting is different when you no longer need to work. Work free rest is better rest--it's real rest, and that is to enter into His rest.
"For the word of God is living and active,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,
of joints and of marrow, and discerning
the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
So why do we run from real rest? Why do choose to strive for OUR rest rather than to strive to enter into God's rest? Why does it feel so low and resistant to say that our working (for God) is actually resting...taking from us our hard work and making it look easy? I think it's because we want the glory. We want to say "look what I did" or "I deserve to rest now because of what I did." The thought of having to think that our work was all actually rest feels....cheap.
Sigh. I hope you see where I'm getting with this. It's making me uncomfortable just thinking about it, let alone writing it all down. We are glory seekers disguised as God seekers, but we have the grace of His Spirit in our hearts that strongly remind us of the powerful need for rest. Real rest. And this convicts us and directs us back into His rest. And we strive to enter His rest.
"And no creature is hidden from his sight,
but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
Our "hard work" or our lack of "work" are both called into account by God who sees where we are at all times. Are you in His rest today or outside of it?
If you find yourself outside then remember:
"So we see that they were unable to enter (His rest) because of unbelief.
Therefore,
while the promise to enter His rest remains,
let us fear that none of you should miss it.
-Hebrews 3:19/4:1
again, He specifies a certain day — today —:
"Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts."
for whoever has entered God’s rest
has also rested from his works
as God did from his.
Let us therefore
strive to enter that rest,
so that no one may fall
by the same sort of disobedience.
For the word of God is living and active,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,
of joints and of marrow, and discerning
the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
And no creature is hidden from his sight,
but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
-Hebrews 4:10-13
-Jmegrey
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