It’s been an exhausting week. Issues with the neighborhood association where I serve on the Board of Directors, numerous client meetings and connecting with old friends – and many friends and acquaintances who have suffered medical issues. Of course, Janet and I have been praying for all those folks who want intercessory assistance from us.
Make no mistake, Janet and I have great lives. But, from time to time, it seems that the workload and the needs of the community take a temporary toll on me. There are days that I honestly wonder how I ever had enough time to earn a living. I seem busier now than I ever did when I had a career in the corporate world. But I don’t have a desire to stop completely.
I’m not a very good golfer; and I am not good at sitting down to read books. I do enjoy studying Greek to keep my skills sharp in teaching the Bible and writing these posts. And I have to say that I am waiting for God to point me in the right direction for the next season of my life. I pretty much know what I am not supposed to do, but I am still waiting for the green light for my next divine project.
The truth is that while we can stay busy, we really can’t push God to make up His mind about what we are to do next. And that brings us to what we can do in the meantime. We can enter into God’s rest. That’s right. We can get rejuvenated by communing with the Father and letting His love wash over us. We can spend time reading the Bible and learning more about the Trinity, strengthening our relationship with the Lord in the meantime.
Rest is something that is mandated in the Scripture. In fact, we are to celebrate the Sabbath each week – a day of rest. And let’s not forget that even God rested on the seventh day of creation. One little known fact is that God blessed the seventh day because it was the day that he rested from the work of creation that had taken place the first six days. Moses, the author of Genesis, tells us in Genesis 2:2-3, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
But for tonight’s verse, I have chosen something from the book of Hebrews. That’s because we are told to enter into God’s rest and the author of Hebrews affirms that it is still something that we should do. In fact, he admonishes us to not fall short of the goal of sufficient rest. We are told, in Hebrews 4:1, “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.”
My encouragement this evening is that we are to rest in God’s goodness. My prayer is that we will always remember that we are not to work all day every day. We are to spend time in communion with God and to enter into His rest, just as God Himself rested. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…