Scripture Reference: Hebrews 4:1-13

The Rest Obtained Is New-Creation Rest (verses 8–11) – Continued. In the light of the last lesson, it becomes very clear that truly keeping the sabbath is not merely observing a special day (that is but the shadow of the real sabbath), but sabbath keeping is achieved when the heart rests on the great promise of God to be working through a believer in the normal affairs of living. We cannot depend on our own efforts to please God, though we do make decisions and exert efforts. We cease from our own works and look to His working within us to achieve the results that please Him. Let us never forget that, “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6). As Jesus put it to the apostles, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We must all learn to work, but always with the thought that He is the One working through us and with us, adding His power to our effort. We are the vessels through which He pours out His will to others. That is keeping the sabbath as it was meant to be kept!

Learning to function from a position of true rest is the way to avoid burnout in ministry or any other labor. We are to become “co-laborers with God,” to use Paul’s wonderful phrase. This does not mean that we cannot learn many helpful lessons on rest by studying the regulations for keeping the sabbath day as found in the Old Testament. Nor that we no longer need time for quiet meditation and cessation from physical labor. Our bodies are yet unredeemed and we need rest and restoration at frequent intervals. But we are no longer bound by heavy limitations to keep a precise day of the week.

Then we read next the writer’s exhortation to “therefore be diligent to enter that rest.” So of course, effort is needed to resist self-dependence. If we think that we have what it takes in ourselves to do all that needs to be done, we shall find ourselves rest-less and ultimately ineffective. Also, with the attitude of self-dependence comes the pitfalls and dangers of pride. Yet decision is still required of us and some exertion is needed; but results can only be expected from the realization that God is the One working through us and He will accomplish the needed ends. This is also the clear teaching of Psalm 127:1, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” Human effort is needed, God uses His chosen vessels, but human effort is never enough in and of itself in doing the Lord’s work whatever that may be.

Failure to expect God to act caused the disobedience of Israel in the wilderness, many times over, and a similar failure destroys thousands in the wilderness of today. It may be called overachieving in our day, but it is the cause for most of the breakdowns experienced by Christians under the pressure of stress or responsibility. Pastors and teachers particularly have often been taught that they are personally responsible to meet the emotional needs and to solve the relational problems of all in their congregations. Many sincerely attempt this but soon find themselves overwhelmed with unending demands and a growing sense of their own failure. Relief can come only by learning to operate out of rest and by sharing responsibility with others in the congregation whom God has also equipped with the various gifts of ministry.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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