A Promise of Rest

Rest for our souls is a topic in Matthew 11 and Hebrews 3 & 4. The Sabbath day and the Promised Land are pictures of eternal rest. “There remains therefore a rest [literally ‘a Sabbath rest’] for the people of God.” (Hebrews 4:9) Though we find rest for our souls now, there still remains an eternal rest. “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:11) We are invited to rest from the burden of sin, our anxieties, the distress of unsatisfied desires, from deep sorrows after a death, and to make every diligence to enter eternal rest.

What Kind of Vacation

What kind of vacation is best? The commercial world entices us to all kinds of exotic and expensive vacations so they can make a living, but is that the kind of vacation that we really need? Is it to experience new cultures and excitement? That is okay and has its place. What is the purpose of a vacation? What kind of vacation do we really need? Most of us occasionally need a rest, time out. In Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 Jesus introduced the concept of a quiet place to get some rest. Rest for the body and mind are good. But, the author of Hebrews described a place, the promised land and a time, the weekly rest as not that true real rest. Each of them was a mere foretaste of a place of eternal resting with God (Hebrews 3-4).