Rest for the People of God

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:9-11

At first blush, this passage seems to be contradictory. One the one hand, we are told that there is a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; a rest that parallels the rest God took on the seventh day after creation. But on the other hand, we are to “make every effort to enter that rest.”

I believe that what the author of Hebrews is saying is that a proper attitude toward good works requires attentiveness; that if we’re not circumspect, we can develop bad habits and bad attitudes that have bad outcomes when we try to do good.

Attentiveness to the proper use of good works is important because I talk a lot about them. Because of this emphasis, it’s possible to lose our bearings and become obsessive, exhausted and demoralized. So here are a few scriptural facts to help us maintain our balance as we do our good works.

• Fact #1 – We do good works as a voluntary response to God’s free gift of salvation through faith, not out of a sense of obligation. Our salvation does not depend on our good works, as Paul clearly states in Ephesians 2:8-9. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
• Fact #2 – It’s okay, even necessary, to take a break. God took a break at the end of creation and we need breaks too. Even Jesus and his disciples took breaks: “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” (Luke 6:31)
• Fact #3 – Our good works are not really our works, but the works God has prepared for us. In fact, these works, Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, have been pre-planned for us to do: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Which God has prepared beforehand for us to do.”
• Fact #4 – While good works can sometimes be hard, they should not be “burdensome.” Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” If our good works don’t “come naturally” for us as Christians, then something is wrong.
  
• Fact #5 – God will always give us everything we need for “every good work.” I love this promise in II Corinthians 9:8 – “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

When it comes to doing the good work God has called us to do, I love to think about Adam and Eve before the Fall, watering trees and tasting their fruit. It wasn’t a life of idleness. But it wasn’t a life of drudgery either. Instead, it was a life of joy and fulfillment.

The good work God has called us to do now involves watering people and tasting their fruit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness and faith.

And what could be more joyful and fulfilling than that?

This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.