“There remaineth  therefore a rest to the people of God. (10) For he that is entered into his  rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his.  (11) Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest…”

Heb. 4: 9-11 KJV

“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. (10) For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his.  (11) Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest…” (Heb. 4: 9-11 KJV). 

Some of the best rest is when we have worked hard all day and are completely exhausted but feel good about the day because of the work that was accomplished.   As soon as our head hits the pillow we are asleep but we awake refreshed for the coming day. 

The Word of God tells us that there is also a “rest for the people of God.”  This rest also comes at the end of labor.  But it is a different kind of labor than our physical labor.  It is an inner labor that comes from striving to try and please God and yet feeling as if we have not done enough and therefore somehow are not fully accepted by God.  But it is a labor that must be entered into before we can ultimately find the “rest” that the Lord wants us to have.

We have to “labor” through our pride.  We have to “labor” through our self-sufficiency. 
We have to “labor” through having confidence in ourselves;  in our ability to please God with our own efforts.  We have to “labor” through our failures and our disappointments with ourselves and with others.  We have to “labor” through our feelings of inadequacy.  We have to “labor” through our hurts and our pain.  We have to “labor” until we can come to the place of completely surrendering everything that we were, everything that are, everything that we have, and everything we hope to be totally to the Lord. 

It is the place of total surrender to the finished work of Christ and His completed work on our behalf on the cross!  Our sense of worth and meaning is no longer found in our ability to achieve or in our ability to serve and please others; even as Christ Followers.  No.   Our worth meaning and purpose are found in Christ alone!   He is the culmination of all that we are and all that we ever hope to be.  It is all found in Him!  (Phil. 3: 7–9).

And when we finally arrive at that place through the “labor” of full relinquishment and surrender of all things to Him, we find this joyful place of His rest!  We can finally “rest” in the fact that we are full and complete in Him!  And we are totally and completely loved and accepted by Him!  It is amazing how refreshing and renewing that truly is! 

Rev. James W. Black