Corona Devo 1859
It's tough to get away, isn't it?
The demands of daily life, although often mundane and
routine...somehow suck us in and staple us to our schedules. And that is
not to say that our work and investment and focus associated with each day is
not valuable and needed.
But...so is rest from all of it.
Rest might look like closing our laptop before every (work or personal) communication is addressed.
Rest might look like leaving work on-time to make the family dinner around the table instead of staying and missing supper....again.
Or rest might look like getting
away from the normal tasks and having an adventure somewhere
(anywhere!) that takes us out of our normal rhythms and responsibilities long
enough so that we can take a deep breath and breathe.
Ahhh, rest.
But...it's tough to get away though, isn't it?
God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. (2) For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.
(3) For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’" even though this rest has been ready since he made the world. (4) We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work. (5) But in the other passage God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.” ~Hebrews 4:1-5
And before we point out all of our already-scheduled-events and the can't-miss-moments (in protest to rest)...let's be reminded today that God provided us the example of resting, and He intends for us to rest.
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. (3) Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. ~Genesis 2:2-3
...the promise of rest that God has provided to us in His Word?
God promises us rest. Is that bliss to anyone else's ears today?
What's the catch? How do we "get" God's rest?
Simply put: we accept it. And to do so, we must accept Him. Accept God into our hearts and lives and then we can accept His rest into our hearts and lives.
And (spoiler-alert and double-blessing): God's promise of rest for us is for now and later:
- The rest that God speaks of is two-dimensional for our lives. If we accept God into our hearts and are changed by Him: then we will "rest" forever in glory with the Lord Almighty.
- But (also), and before we die, every seventh day on earth is an ordained day of rest by the Lord. And...within the framework of our busy/productive/achieving/serving/good-intentioned/faith-filled lives, God also intends and ordains that we step away somedays and rest.
Let today be that day.
So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. ~Hebrews 4:7
What's the catch? How do we "get" God's rest?
Simply put: we rest.
We stop. We still. We step out or away for a moment and...we rest.
God’s promise of entering his rest still stands today...but
it is always up to us to stop long enough to experience it (Hebrews
4:1).
There are many that don't. But today: (Please) do.
Rest. It's here for us...it is
even promised to us (by God)...but we must choose
it.
...Separate long enough to experience it and enter in to rest, God's rest.
...Realize, appreciate and have the wisdom to understand the fruit of rest.
The promise is there for us today:
So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but
those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed
God. (7) So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time
is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already
quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your
hearts.”
(8) Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this
rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to
come. (9) So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of
God. (10) For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from
their labors, just as God did after creating the world. (11) So let
us do our best to enter that rest. ~Hebrews 4:6-11
~~~
Ahhh, rest.
But...it's tough to get away, isn't it?
Rest anyway today.
God’s promise of entering his rest still stands today (Hebrews 4:1).
Take a drive. Take a trip. Take a nap. Take in a movie. Take a friend up on coffee or lunch. Take a walk. Take time to rest today.
God’s rest is there for people to enter...let's enter it (Hebrews 4:7).
So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. ~Hebrews 4:7
Rest today!
Blessings,
sarah
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