“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28(NKJV)
God made the heavens and the earth and everything therein by the power of His Word.(John 1:1–3). Then He saw that everything He made were indeed very good and also sustainable. He then went ahead to bless them and said: “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” Gen 1:28
God also planted a garden where He put Adam and Eve to take care of and maintain. “And God blessed (spoke good of) the seventh day, set it apart as His own, and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all His work which He had created and done.” (Gen 2:3 AMP).
God entered His rest by allowing the world and everything He made to function and be sustained by the power of His Word.
Jesus said “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working” John 5:17. By this He explain to the Jews of His days that God entered His rest does not mean He stopped working. No.
For us too as Christ followers, entering God’s rest is not about folding our arms, idling about and doing nothing. The Bible said those who live a lazy life have chosen poverty to come to them like a prowler(Prov 6:11)
To enter God’s rest is about putting our trust in God and to fully believe in the finished work of Christ. By the simple believe and trust in God’s Word, we can accomplish much more work than can be possible just by our human effort.
When Jesus said “I will give you rest” He did not mean we should be jobless. The rest He gives is peace of mind. It is very possible to be calm and be at peace even in the midst of tumultuous situations and daily busy schedules. What it needs is to be less dependent on our human awareness, understanding and efforts. We should rather rest on God’s Word, believe and have faith on He’s promise of help by His Holy Spirit “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it‘” Isaiah 30:21(NKJV)
Anyone who entered God’s rest has himself ceased from the weariness and pain of human labor (Heb 4:10) because entering His rest will save us from a life of endless toil, futility and unfruitfulness. His rest is a guarantee for favor and an abundant life without stress.
In the Gospel of Luke 5:1–7; Jesus proved that there is abundant and stress-free life just by obeying and living by God’s Word. He told Simon Peter to “Launch out into the deep and let down your net for a catch“. Though Peter was reluctant because he had just spent a fruitless night with his colleagues in that same spot and caught nothing, but he still obeyed ” nevertheless at Your Word I will let down the net“. They then caught a very large number of fish, so much that there was not room enough in the boats to take them all. Hallelujah!
That same way, when we accept to enter God’s rest, we will be amazed at how stress-free our lives would become. Unfortunately, not everyone would enter His rest because of unbelievable and disobedience(Heb 3:19; 4:6).
Those who hates instructions, who cast God’s Word behind, are those who lives a life of struggle, but His right hand upholds everyone who follows close behind Him because He always shows His goodness to His faithfuls.
We should therefore as much as possible make the effort to accept and live in obedience to God‘s Word. It is very active and powerful so that everything we need is found in His Word.
In John 8:32, Jesus said “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free“. The truth gives freedom. Freedom comes with peace and takes away worry and anxiety.
We need faith to be able to accept God’s Word in its totality. Thanks to God that by the gift of grace(which we received at the point of accepting Christ Eph 2:8), we can take hold of, and possess a working knowledge of an aggressive faith that loosens us from our ignorance of how potent God‘s Word is. Only then do we begin to understand our position in Christ and the glorious Christian birthright. By the truth of His Word we can take charge of every situation and still come out victorious just as Jesus’ promise ” I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” John 10:10b
THE CONCLUSION of the matter therefore is to trust God wholeheartedly, be alive in the spirit, and always listen to the ‘still small voice‘. Pay attention to God‘s instructions and also be diligent in your work. Amen!
– Ike
