"Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience."
I'm confused by the coupling of "effort" and "rest" in the same statement, especially because what's implied is that entering into God's rest (the rest to which this verse refers) requires effort.
What's interesting to me is that for the last several weeks I have been exhausted in every way. I had a week off from work (this week), and to get to the point where I could take the week off, I had to redouble my efforts at work. I'm also trying to find a way of taking a break from other things, which will require a similar level of effort to make happen. Why should rest take work? Why should "God's rest" require effort to enter? What's the broader theme of Hebrews 4:11?You will need to read the passage on your own to identify the antecedents and place it in correct context. What are your thoughts?
Thanks for waiting patiently for this update. Time simply goes by too fast sometimes.
3 comments:
Jeff,
My take on this is that "rest"="faith" and faith is much more work than unbelief! Any dummy can be a cynic and a doubter, but it takes real effort to see beyond what the naked eye can see and trust God. To have faith requires the Lord doing a major work over on our hearts. In our fallen world, unbelief seems to be the norm and natural state of things.
If you look back into chapter 3, the writer says, “see to it that you none of you has an evil unbelieving heart.” He also states quite clearly that they were not able to enter into God’s promises because of the hardness of heart, i.e. unbelieving heart. It is interesting in John 3:36 (NIV) “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." The literal translation of ‘rejects’ is ‘refuses to be convinced.’
So my take on this is that it takes effort to unite our faith with God’s word and is sometimes right down scary, but the result will be a place of rest and peace as we prove God’s faithfulness. In other words, rest is not to lay down and take a nap, but to position ones self in the faithful arms of God by stepping out and taking risks in obedience to God’s still small voice. It is only there that we can ‘enter the promise land’ of God’s provision of grace which releases His provision in every area; physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually. When we have this grace in our lives it enables us to rest from our own labors. Did that make any sense to anyone? Could you help me articulate that better?
Rod
Good thoughts. I think I am starting to see the pattern, especially after having read the first chapter in "Celebration of Discipline." In that chapter, Foster describes a mode of living in which unrest comes from trying to suppress our sin outwardly through obedience to law via a commitment of will--an exogracious approach one could compare to the Pharisees' way of living. In moments of unguardedness, what’s in our hearts will come out (the notion of the “careless word”). So it’s really a scary endeavor trying to cover up our "tomb" and we will not be in a restful place with God or others. However, when we use the spiritual disciplines, we put ourselves on a pathway where God can change us to the point where the fruits of the Spirit are natural, because we’ve been internally transformed. At this point, we’ve entered “rest.” I believe this is the sort of rest Hebrews 4:11 discusses. So being "diligent to enter that rest" would be, in Foster's view, exactly the exercise of the spiritual disciplines. Is it effort? Is it work? Yes, but it’s effort worth exerting and work worth doing.
This relates to your thoughts, Pastor Rod, in that the type of approach that leads to unrest--the suppression of sin through a commitment of will--is at it's core faithlessness and unbelief.
I think the broadest theme here in this scripture, and those around it, is obedience so I am glad to see it brought out in your dialogue.
Obedience demands faith; it is a virtue PRACTICED (thus the effort and diligence) by those who believe in His name.
Maria
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