Hebrews 4:11

Hebrews 4:11

Make every effort to enter the rest

So what do we learn from all of this? We have been treated to a series of allegories, and the author of Hebrews has been trying to get his Jewish readers to understand. They were new-born followers of Christ and they, more than anyone, should understand the lessons from their history. These lessons are for us too as part of the wider church of Jesus Christ.

Firstly, when we rest in the Lord, we do not put our feet up, but we do recognise that everything necessary for our salvation and future peace has already been done. We cannot add to it any more than God could add to His perfect creation.

Secondly, once we have been delivered from sin and bondage we must be prepared to move on, sometimes through wilderness experiences, because the Lord is preparing us for the Land of Promise, where we can be at rest. There are those that inherit His promises but many others who do not. The major obstacles to exclusion from the Land are disobedience and unbelief, everything that God allows us to experience is channelled to help us learn obedience and to grow in our faith and trust. “Rest” comes when we trust Him whatever He asks of us and we have learned to obey His Word. Therefore, the command, “Do not harden your hearts if you hear His voice today” still stands, hardened hearts are a major obstacle to inclusion in God’s promises. Israel proves this point time and again. And let us not overlook the fact that the cause of their unbelief was usually because they had compromised themselves with the pagan gods of the nations and allowed themselves to be lured into worship of created things rather than the Creator. 

This verse emphasises the dangers of such compromises by impelling us to “make every effort to enter God’s rest!” But it also tells us that those who are disobedient may perish! We don’t need to get into the theology of whether or not we can lose our salvation or “once saved always saved” for that is God’s prerogative but we do need to learn some powerful lessons from the Word of God and ensure that we press on to conquer the spiritual land before us. As we do so, the Lord will fight for us and gradually bring us to the place of Sabbath rest. Jesus called this “the Kingdom of Heaven” or “The kingdom of God” and there is much to learn from His teaching about the life in the Kingdom that we are called to inhabit. 

 

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