The Kingdom of God- The Rest of God (Hebrews 4:1-11)/ Rashea@LLO2 Academy
A portion of God's Kingdom is the commandment to rest. Rest is not optional. Rest is a divine law.
What Is Rest?
Rest is so important to God that although being the God who never slumbers nor sleeps took a day off to recover from His extensive work of creation. Rest is so important to God that it was a mandate to be followed before there was ever the Sabbath Day in the law of Moses. Rest is so important to God that it wasn't just a moment; rest became a day of recovery.
Our bodies are made to rest. Our bodies are not made to be idle or lazy but to rest after working on extensive tasks. There are two extremes to working. You can overwork or you can be lazy.
According to the Book of Ecclesiasties, overworking leads to sickness in the body. Overworking leads to greed, meager living and the loss of valuable time & relationships. Overworking leads to stress and fatigue. Overworking is not God's will.
According to the Book of Proverbs, laziness leads to voluntary poverty. Laziness leads to a loss of time, good health and relationships. Laziness leads to God's wrath and the avoidance of other people.👀 No one likes a lazy person not even God. Laziness is not God's will, working is with balance.
We live in a society that despises rest. However, rest is God's divine will. Rest is God's divine blessing and sanctity. Genesis 2:2-3 says, "2 And on the 7th day God ended His work which He had done; and He rested on the 7th day from all His Work which He had done. 3 And God blessed (spoke good of) the 7th day, set it apart as His own, and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all His work which He had created and done."
The Commandment to Work
The original meaning of the Sabbath written in the Law of Moses and carried on into the New Testament Scriptures and teachings of Jesus was the rest of God (Genesis 2:2-3). Working is God's will and commandment for mankind. However, so is a day set aside to rest and to replensish our lives.
To not work when you can work is sin.👀 To hinder someone from working is sin, because you are resisting the first and original intent and commandment of God. The first commandment God gave mankind when He put them in the Garden of Eden was to work and oversee the land (Genesis 2:15).
God's commandment has not changed. God restores us not only to be saved from sin but also to work, to have dominion, to subdue, to be fruitful and to replenish the earth in all aspects of our existence (Genesis 1:26-28). We work and then we rest. We rest and then we work.
You cannot rest, if you have not worked. Rest is the result of concluding a task or tasks that requires effort, time and energy. If you have voluntarily done nothing that is productive and requires effort, time and energy, you are considered lazy or idle.
Working is not being a busybody. Even when helping to complete a task or tasks while working, you maintain integrity, respect for others with the objective to fulfill your role without hindering others or hurting them in the process.
The Apostle Paul saw that people were becoming busybodies in the body of Christ. This posed to be a problem. After observing such things and the harm it was bringing, he, under the direction of the Holy Spirit as an overseerer and head leader, gave helpful guidelines on how we should work and avoid being a busybody.
He commanded that every individual should lead a quiet and peaceful life. Make an honest living while working with our own hands. And work as unto the Lord knowing that God will reward us for our work and labor (Genesis 1:26-28, 2:15; Psalms 90:17; Proverbs 12:11 & 24, 13:4, 14:23, 16:3; 31:10-31; John 6:27; Galatians 6:4-5; Ephesians 4:28; Colossians 3:23-24, 4:1; 1Thessolonians 4:11; 1Timothy 5:8; 2Timothy 2:6; Titus 2:7-8; Hebrews 4:10).
The Regimen of God's Rest
The Bible reveals that God created rest (Genesis 2:2; Hebrews 4:1 & 4).
The Apostle Paul urges us to make an effort to rest. Doing things tired is not helpful to anyone. Be rejuvenated and alert (clear minded). Rest your mind and eyes. Let God speak into your spirit by hearing God's Word.
Make an effort to experience the rest of God for yourself. Make an effort to listen to and obey the commandment to rest both in your work and spiritually (eternal life). Infuse your will to rest (Hebrews 4:10).
To reject the rest of God is to reject a day designed to bless you and to sanctify you.🙃👀 To reject the rest of God is to reject a day designed to rest your inner being and refresh all areas of your life. Rest is God's will.
When you are at rest, the exterior shell of your body may be in the physical realm, but your spirit and soul are in a spiritual dimension. Your inner man is being rejuvenated daily (2Corinthians 4:16). The inner rejuvenation of your being begins to show outwardly in your body and reverses the symptoms and stages of aging when you rest.
The Bible said. "God rested (Genesis 2:2)." Rest is not always sleep. We know that resting is not always a state of sleeping, because God never slumbers nor sleeps in His heavenly state of existence (Psalms 121:2-4).
Rest simply means to relax, to recline, to take an easy, to chill, to cool down, to be at peace, to reset, to cease from hard labor, to restore longevity through a designated time and state of quiet reflections.
I like that. "And God rested." Let's read that passage like this, "And God restored His longevity through a designated time and state of quiet reflections." The Bible says that every time God finished an aspect of His project while making creation that He would stop (pause), quietly reflect over His work and declare that it was good (Genesis 1:10, 18, 21, 25 & 31).
The Kingdom of God is rest. Come unto Me all who are burdened and loaded down with challenges, demands, stress and work, and I Myself will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). God is our Resting Place. Come and rest.
Rashea@LLO2
