Sabbath Rest

Hebrews 4:9-11 There remains, then, a Sabbath – rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
 
THE first-century Jews needed to hear that “Sabbath” meant “rest”. In their culture, the Christian Jews knew very little about a pure Sabbath rest. Many of them were educated in a very legalistic Sabbath. The Pharisees’ specific laws regarding the Sabbath had made Sabbath-keeping hard work. Jesus admonished the Pharisees that the Sabbath was made for man, not man made for the Sabbath (Mark 2:7). The Sabbath is a day to stop one’s daily work to be a day of restoration and renewal. It is not a day for more rules.
   Jesus also showed us it is a day one can take time to care for others. And it is a day of resting in God’s care. We must believe God’s Word that his plan for our weekly routine includes a day of rest that will bless our lives both physically and spiritually. God has commanded, and God has set the example: Genesis 2:2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
   Hebrews’ urging to make every effort to enter that rest can sound as if we must work really hard to rest. But the effort is to be an intentional decision to allow the benefits of the Bible’s lessons to enter your life. Think of the Israelites who did not enter into the Promised Land. They made no effort to trust God’s promise that they would overcome great obstacles to conquer the land. If they had made the effort to look back to Egypt, the Red Sea and other places of God’s miracles, they would have believed once more that God had given them victory over their enemies. They would have heard that if they obeyed his commands, he would abundantly bless them. But they made no effort to strengthen their faith, and they did not enter God’s rest.
   As Jesus’ church, our effort must be to examine Scripture to read of God’s promises, learn how he judges disobedience and know how he blesses obedience. To make every effort to believe God’s promises is truly observing the Sabbath.
   Do as God says, and then see how he will bless you. Keep the Sabbath and learn how God keeps you well. Understand what it means that the Sabbath was made for you. God gives you a day each week to rest. Are you willing to keep it?