Hebrews 4:9-11
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.”
Rest
This is a funny and neglected word, rest. The definition states that rest is “an instance
or period of relaxing or ceasing to engage in strenuous or stressful activity”. The
musical definition though is a little more eloquent. It states that rest is “an interval of
silence of a specified duration”. Now some may or may not know that I spent 7 years
playing trombone in middle school and high school. When a rest was present, it was a
pause from the music to breathe or wait until it was time to play again. Sometimes the
rests were extremely brief, other times we had several measures to wait until it was
time to reengage in the music. The key for the musician is we saw those moments as
part of the natural rhythm of the piece. The composer said this person needs to rest
here for a moment and we took them at their word.
The scriptures speak of rest and the sabbath often. We are encouraged to take rest
regularly as part of the natural rhythm of life, but we often neglect what the composer
of this world clearly felt was necessary. Hebrews, like the musical definition, puts it a
little more eloquently, especially in verse 10. “Whoever has entered God’s rest has also
rested from his works as God did from his”! Whether it be a short pause or an extended
vacation there is an intrinsic value placed on naturally separating ourselves from the
rhythm if only for a moment. God makes this an intentional effort and recommends we
do the same.
The intentional is the challenge. We will go weeks and months without rest to the point
it feels awkward to spend the day without anything to do or accomplish. But this is the
point, not laziness but to pause and breathe. I encourage you to make rest an
intentional effort in your life. Make it a part of the natural rhythm to pause and breathe
if only for a moment. Pay close attention to the fact that God nor the composer
neglects rest, even if everyone else is still playing along. Rest encourages us in our
hearts, minds, and our souls when we give ourselves to it. Verse 11 gives us a little more
clarity telling us to “strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall”. God desires for
you to be at your best and not fall down on the things that are important in life.
Therefore, make it an intentional effort to take some time and pause the music for a
moment and rest.
Keep The Faith,
Pastor Tommy
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