Verse of the Day 2/15

Verse of the Day 2/15

Hebrews 4:8-9  For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹ Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God's people.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

After a busy week of work and travel where I did not get a goods night rest, it was good to get home and look forward to a good nights sleep and get up at a leisurely pace.  There's an old rock'n roll song that went "everybody's working for the weekend", the thought being that we need the break.  Unfortunately, in reality the weekends are often just as hectic, sometimes worse in trying to get a lot of things done.

Sometimes, we need a rest spiritually.  We've been worn out by concerns and issues in our lives that have robbed us of rest and are complicated by the fact that we did not go to God with this.  He's got control of what is going on even when we don't and we need to learn to trust in Him, to rest in Him.  God does not just offer this for a day or a season but for eternity as well.

James Smith writes,"

To the weary and way-worn, there is something delightful in the thought of REST.

They love to think of Heaven as the place where they shall "rest from their labors." 

REST gives us the idea of . . .

  repose--the calm, quiet repose of the soul; 

  refreshment--the refreshment of the exhausted spirit after conflict, sickness, or toil;

  restoration to vigor--after debility, languor, and fainting. 

Heaven will be a rest . . . 

  from sin--which will no more grieve us; 

  from sorrow--which will no more trouble and distress us; 

  from fears--which will no more harass and perplex us; and 

  from conflicts--which will no more agitate and suppress us. 

It will be a rest . . .

  with God in His glory, 

  with Jesus in His immediate presence, 

  with saints and holy angels in full perfection and blessedness.

This rest is FUTURE--it remains for the people of God.

My hope is that you will find some rest this weekend and be refreshed to worship Him and face the week ahead.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Hebrews 4:8-12 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God^[a] would not have spoken of another day later on. ⁹ So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰ for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

¹¹ Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.