Tired and Want to Rest for Good?

Published on 04/28/24 by Dr-Shirley-Cheng.

Do you sometimes feel that no matter how much you do, that you'd never get it done? Day after day, it appears that you live to work. There's no rest in sight.

The sweat, the toilsome work, the grind--all this is the curse of sin. But thanks be to Christ, he has lifted that curse so that we can enter into rest that God intends for us from the start, not just any rest, but God's own rest. Let's see how.

"Let us fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn't profit them, because it wasn't mixed with faith by those who heard. For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, 'As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest;' although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has said this somewhere about the seventh day, 'God rested on the seventh day from all his works;' and in this place again, 'They will not enter into my rest.' Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter therein, and they to whom the good news was before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience, he again defines a certain day, today, saying through David so long a time afterward (just as has been said), 'Today if you will hear his voice, don't harden your hearts.' For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day. There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience." (Hebrews 4:1-11, WEB)

After Yahweh God completed His creation in six days, He ceased from creating on the seventh day and sanctified (set apart) it. This was when He ordained the seventh day (Saturday) as the Sabbath, a holy day of rest to commemorate His own rest (Genesis 2:3).

The writer of Hebrews referenced this divine ordination of the Sabbath and explained that God's people are promised to partake in or enter into God's continued rest. For the ancient Israelites, their rest refers to their restful possession of the Promised Land, living in fellowship in the presence of their God. For us, we enter into God's Sabbath by inheriting the Kingdom of God, our Promised Land, wherein we'll reside forever in complete peace. It will be eternal spiritual rest, free from anything that would cause unrest in our spirits.

How do we enter into that Sabbath of God? By our faith. We can claim the promise of Yahweh only by trusting in Him and His Messiah and their promises.

All of God's people, ancient Israelites and we, have had the good news preached to us. To Israel, their good news was entrance into the Promised Land. To us, it's the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. But what happened to the first-generation Israelites? They were condemned in the wilderness, as Yahweh swore by His name that they would not enter into His rest. Why? Because they failed to have faith in Him. They did not trust Him to bring them safely into the Promised Land. When they were at the brink of having the good news fulfilled to them, they backed out in faithlessness.

If Israel could lose God's Sabbath rest due to their disbelief, the same thing could happen to us. If we fall back in faith, if we allow our faith to drift away, we could lose the promise of God's Sabbath, even if we were standing at the brink of the Promised Land.

Israel's redemption is a type or foreshadow of Christian redemption. Israel was redeemed by God from slavery. They became God's people and members of His covenant (Mosaic covenant). They were promised entrance into His rest. Yet, when they committed the sin of disobedience--to refuse to trust God is disobedience--the sinful generation was condemned to die in the wilderness, never entering into the promised Sabbath.

Like Israel, we have been redeemed by God from slavery to sin. We have become His people and members of His covenant (new covenant, the Christian covenant). We have been given the promise to enter into His Sabbath. To enter it, we must do so in faith.

The door to God's Sabbath is open to all of us who are His redeemed. Though the door was shut to the disobedient Israelites, Yahweh holds the door open to us "today."

To enter through that door to partake in God's Sabbath, we must remain faithful. We must give diligence to enter into God's rest. We must watch our faith and keep fueling it with the Word of God. We must never let it subside. We are to fan our faith and exercise our trust. We must not follow in the disobedience of Israel. Unlike they, we must seize God's promise of rest with faith, not with doubting or distrust. Then and only then will the Gospel we hear profit us, unlike the good news that Israel heard which was unprofitable to them because they responded with distrust.

The objects of our trust should be in Yahweh and Jesus. Jesus is our "Joshua" ("Joshua" and "Jesus" are the same name but in different transliteration) will bring us into our Promised Land. Though Joshua did eventually bring the second-generation Israelites into their Promised Land, a Sabbath rest still remains for God's people. That rest can be obtained only through faith in the Christ, of whom Joshua is a prototype or foreshadow.

When we seize divine promise of rest with faith, we'll cease from our works as Yahweh did from His. This does not mean that we won't do anything or stop being productive, just as Yahweh is still always working (John 5:17). What rest from our works does mean is that we'll no longer work with toil and sweat. Such hard labor is the curse that Yahweh pronounced against humanity after Adam and Eve fell from glory (Genesis 3). Before their fall, they worked the soil for pleasure (Genesis 2:15). The redemption that Christ affords us has lifted that curse, so work will no longer be painful but delightful. We'll be more productive than we have ever been.

Make today the day of your salvation. Embrace Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Trust in his finished atoning work for your sins. Believe that he's the divine Son of God who came to Earth as a flesh-and-blood human, died for your sins, was buried and resurrected on the third day for your justification and his vindication. Repent of your sins and follow in his footsteps to live in obedience to God. Then you'll enjoy God's eternal rest in perfect fellowship with your Maker.