Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 A Sabbath – Rest for the people of God

Hebrews 4:1-13
“Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” vs 7

Just like that, we are facing the reality that we don’t have that much time left to complete our new year’s resolutions. Despite all the things we have done this year, it seems as if the year was… a blur. We are jammed with school, work, family, and church and may feel like we have no time to just rest. Rest? What’s that? How can I rest with everything I have to do? We question ourselves and create false assurances to justify our pursuit of happiness rather than asking, “Am I pursuing what God wants me to do?”
God enjoys when we use the talents to work hard and bring Him glory, but He also understands how important rest is. Even in the story of creation, we can see that God set apart the 7th day as Holy, because He rested. God set forth the example of how holy rest is and how if we are to be like Him, we must enter His rest. We are called to enter this rest – it requires action on our part. This may seem like yet another task, but thankfully, Jesus already did the hard work when He created the path by dying on the cross and rising from the grave. We are now required to actively pursue God’s rest by spiritually preparing our heart, mind, and body to be obedient to His will.
We are reminded of how disobedience leads to suffering or unrest. Just as we set apart time for vacations and set up out-of-office emails so that we can “disconnect”, we must enter rest that God desires and has prepared to re-connect with Him. There are no piles of emails waiting for us or the feeling of vacation exhaustion. Instead, we can find the Word which is alive and active ready to sharpen our hearts and minds if we allow it.
It’s so easy to get distracted by life and the demands we face. Our hearts are overwhelmed and hardened daily, but we still have time! If we prepare our hearts and minds to listen, we will surely hear His loving voice calling us to enter His rest. Not tomorrow, not next week, but today, let’s hear God’s voice and soften our hearts and mind to complete obedience and rest.
 

Prayer
Dear Lord, we hear Your voice and submit ourselves to You. Help us to be obedient and pursue after You always. Sharpen us with Your Word that we may help others experience this perfect rest only You can provide. Amen

 Thought for the Day
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 2:3


     Gracious John
    Immanuel MTC Houston

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