12-01-2023

Good Morning All,

    Hebrews 4:9; “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”

     After a long day of work, we are often tired.  We lie down and sleep.  We rest but often times it is not a full or complete rest.  We wake up the next day and sometimes let out a huge sigh as we think of the day ahead.  We think of the project that we had begun a few days ago and now we are in the middle, and we still have a few days left until the project is complete.  We sigh as we see the end no closer than the distance we have already travelled.  We have rested some but not completely.  We only get the complete rest when the project is done.  Then we can rest the rest of completeness.

    This is the type of rest that God gives to us, the rest that he took on the Sabbath.  It was the rest of completion; it was the rest of perfection, of wholeness.  This is not the rest of the weary; this is better.  This is the rest received when a task is finished, when the job is done.  It is the rest of satisfaction at a work completed and a task finished.  This is the rest that God had when he completed creation.  He wasn’t weary from the task; he was satisfied for all was “very good” and existing as he designed it.

    The good news of the Sabbath is that we are invited to participate in this rest.  To live in perfect equilibrium between the outgoings and incomings of the life; to a contented heart; to peace that passes all understanding; to the repose of the will in the will of God; and to the calm of the depths of the nature which are undisturbed by the hurricanes which sweep the surface, and urge forward the mighty waves. This rest is holding out both its hands to the weary souls of men throughout the ages, offering its shelter as a harbor from the storms of life. This is God’s will and invitation for us and to us.

    So, when life struggles are great, we look forward to God’s blessings.  We can look to him in complete confidence that we will have rest.  We have contentment far deeper than this world can grasp.  It is a peace that the world can never offer or understand.  It is God’s holy rest, and we are partakers in it.  We are partakers because Christ went before us, completing our work of salvation, entering his rest so that we would also enter into our rest.

   No matter how great the task here on earth, no matter how grueling the job is; God’s rest waits for us.  No matter what the devil or the world tries to throw upon our backs, in an effort to cause us to work ourselves to exhaustion; God holy rest is there for you.  You can rest secure in the certainty that your victory is won, and your salvation is secure.  You can rest in the contentment of the task completed.  We can recline in God’s loving arms, knowing that we are safe.

Gracious Father, in you we have rest.  Give us the comfort and the contentment of your loving arms.  Father, there are many who do not know your rest; they only know the rest that the world deceives them with.  It is not rest; it is a lie.  Bring them into your Sabbath Day’s rest.  Bring them to the knowledge and faith of their salvation.  This we ask in the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret