Saved for rest

Hebrews 3:14-15 says "For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, while it is said, 'Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked me.'"

Angie Smith brings out a beautiful thought in today's If:Equip devotional about this passage that took my breath away. She points out that maybe our hearts become hard as we fail to enter His rest - not the final eternal rest, but the rest He offers in His presence throughout our lives.

Hebrews 4 addresses 2 distinctive types of rest that belong to the people of God. First we see in 4:3 "we who have believed enter the rest, just as He has said." This rest is the rest of justification that immediately is ours, because we are now eternally sealed in Him when we believe.

Second, Heb 4:4 refers to the Sabbath rest God took when He had created all things. This rest is the rest of having the work be completed. This same rest is referred to for us in verse 10, as it says "For the one who has entered His rest has himself rested from his works, as God did from His."

But then the author reiterates in verse 11, "therefore, let us be diligent to enter that rest."

We will not truly know a resting of our works until we are with God in heaven, eternally resting in the glorification of being made new. But, as soon as we are saved, we enter a type of rest that only comes from His presence indwelling our spirits. Our beginning assurance - our saving faith - is the one which says I cannot save myself. I alone am not worthy. I cannot justify my existence through my own actions. My works are not good enough, heart isn't pure enough and life is not holy enough to be made right with God. Christ and Christ alone can save me. That is the good news. That we don't have to do it on our own. The good news is that it isn't up to us. The gospel says that God made the way for us to be made right with Him, even though it cost Him His son.

Our saving rest is not meant to be a one time prayer from which we move on in life to a new type of  self-justification, wrapped up in christian lingo, church activities and making it look like we have it all together. Our saving rest is supposed to be the position of our hearts from now until we are able to enter the eternal glorified rest in heaven with Him.

This doesn't mean we don't do things. In fact, the Israelites were disobedient to the Lords commands causing them to not enter the promise land. Their disbelief hardened their hearts against God and they failed to enter the rest of having a land with milk and honey, but chose to live as nomads in the wilderness. But even in the wilderness, God's presence remained with them. They had a visual sign of His presence but followed their fear instead of rest in their faith.

It is faith and faith alone that saves us - it is faith and faith alone that frees us from our works and allows us to rest in Jesus instead - and it is faith and faith alone that gives us the courage to obey Him, even when it seems like their are giants before us.

Rest is an act of faith, but it is also a gift. To truly enter is rest is a shalom beyond one we could ever experience on our own. Each season in life requires a different balance of resting from work and acts of obedience - but the certainty of God's presence, the gift of His love and the promise of His provision make available to us now a peaceful rest that passes all worldly understanding.

He knows us better than we know ourselves - and He will provide us with just the type of rest we need, if we come to Him with open hearts. Lord, let us rest in You.