“So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” Psalm 95:11
As I meditate a moment on the thought: “what it would be like to NOT to enter God’s rest?” two thoughts come to mind:
One. Heart/soul rest. Here and now. Trusting our Savior with all of life. Resting in His sovereign goodness. That feeling of knowing He holds us in the palm of His hand and that He has a plan and purpose for each of us that will be for His glory and our good. Rest in knowing that He is at work in me to conform me to the image of Jesus Christ. Oh, glorious rest. Here. Now. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
Two. The Promise of eternal rest. God has promised eternal rest for every one of His chosen ones. It is not promised to everyone; God promised it to His children alone. “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” Psalm 95:11 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:18-19
There are many instances throughout Scripture of men and women who set their eyes and their hearts on that which they could not physically see but knew and believed was yet to come. The promise of heaven – a city for which we were made. The promise of His rest for us forever – For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven. 2 Cor 5:1-2; For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ Philippians 4:20; These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Hebrews 11:13-16
“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him.” Psalm 37:7
Rest. Glorious rest.
Can you feel your muscles relaxing? I can feel mine relaxing. Let that tension flow from your neck, your shoulders. His rest. His promise.
Do you know Christ personally?
Take a deep breath and meditate on His rest; allow His peace to flood your soul. Be filled with the reality of His promise. Be filled to overflowing with the reality of His rest. Rest in Him now.
Rest in His promise of eternal rest in heaven.
Written by Diane Hunt: Diane Hunt serves on the board of America’s Keswick and is the Executive Director & CEO of Changed Choices, a Christian non-profit in North Carolina. She is also a biblical counselor and women’s event speaker. For more information about having Diane speak at your next event please contact her at dhunt@americaskeswick.org.
