Sabbath Rest

Van Gogh's
 "Noon rest from work after millet." 

Hebrews 4:1, “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.”

So for the past few days I have been struggling with breaking through spiritually on 2 very significant items that are causing me a lot of stress and could materially turn my world upside down for the worse. One has been since Oct, the other since Oct 2010. Yesterday I wrote on fasting in the context of breaking through. And low and behold a few hours after posting it one breakthrough came. I was finally issued my mortgage license albeit conditionally. So with at least a 6 month break before another intensive evaluation I have my last remaining major issue to see God resolve.

And as much as fasting has been on my heart, “rest” has been there as well. In the lesson of “rest” the last time I was learning to see what God does and to do that. In fact, rest was an exercise of obedience in the midst of an unemployment crisis. This time the lesson is taking a different twist.

There is a promise of “entering His rest.” This “rest” is the rest of eternal life, having been fully removed from the world and its dying affect. The rest of Hebrews 4 is not physical rest here and now, but rather a time after “They shall not enter My rest” is fulfilled. So the lesson of rest before was as physical as it was spiritual.

This time the lesson of rest is a lesson for my soul. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” This is the rest… rest for the soul… that Jesus is telling me to enjoy. In the midst of busily working to meet physical needs, in the midst of a world full of tribulation, in the midst of a personal crisis, He is telling me “rest.” Rest your soul… do not worry… do not fret… relax.

Of this same passage in Matthew T Austin-Sparks says, “"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest"… What has happened? Jesus has appropriated the Sabbath to Himself. It is no longer a day of the week – it is a divine Person… No, Jesus is God's Sabbath. He is the end of God's works, and in Him God has entered into His rest. This is the "rest which remaineth for the children of God" – not a day of the week or on the calendar, but a divine Person, the Son of God. In Him we come to rest, and that which was our bondage is now our servant. In Him, that against which we were always struggling is now our victory. Oh yes, Jesus is the Sabbath, and if we live in Him we shall not spoil the Sabbath. Every day should be a day of rest to our souls. Oh, this is a mighty thing that the Lord Jesus has done!”

How powerful… “what was our bondage is now our servant.” Looming problems no longer loom in the rest, but instead serve our needs. In the rest the struggle is turned to victory.

And so having written this, and in the process of proof reading, it hits me… “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.” Short of it is not just missing heaven. Short of it is not experiencing the victory and our bondage becoming our servant in Christ as the Sabbath Rest.

That I would live this rest in my life. That I would not only understand Christ as rest, but that I would know Him as such.