There Remains A Rest

As I continue along the road of recovery from ACL reconstruction, the path stretches beyond me as far as I can see.  In addition to walking, weights, and cycling occasionally, I have begun to add jogging to the mix.  Running on the grass is good for strengthening stabilising muscles and taxes areas of my legs not addressed on the bike.  The knee is a bit sore when I first start running, and afterwards I definitely notice it when walking down stairs.

Jogging around the park yesterday was not for the fun of it, I assure you.  My whole body hated the experience.  I had set a goal for myself to run at a good pace around the park three times.  About halfway through each lap, I so wanted to stop and walk.  But you know what kept me going?  The promise of a break when it was all over.  Looking forward to the rest helped me to push through pain with determination.  The pain I was experiencing would soon be over, and I would carry the benefits of the strain with me long after I caught my breath.

The same thing is true in the Christian life.  The mistake people make is looking to rest which cannot supply our deepest needs.  We look to the weekend to help ourselves through a trying week at work.  We look forward to sleeping in or lounging around, hoping to recharge.  We look with great longing on the holiday we have booked for ourselves, thinking that break will revive us.  The truth is, the cessation of activity or alteration of a busy schedule does not provide rest for our souls.  No weekend, holiday, or break can provide the rest found only in Jesus Christ.  Isn't it ironic Jesus said if we will take His yoke upon us - to do His work with Him - it is in that working posture we will find rest?  To be sustained, we must look to the eternal rest God has promised us when our life has been spent for God's glory.

Jesus promised in Matthew 11:28-30:  "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Jesus is the Way spoken of by the prophets of old, for it is in Him we find rest for our souls (Jeremiah 6:16).  It is possible, the writer of Hebrews pointed out, that even those who have trusted in Christ may not enter into the rest provided freely through faith in Christ.  Hebrews 4:1 says, "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it."  If my efforts to please God become my focus over Christ Himself, I will not experience the rest He offers.  If I look to weekends or holidays when I should be looking to Jesus today I will find myself burning out, like a flame starved of oxygen.  I will come back from my holiday just as depleted as when I left.  When I find my rest in Jesus despite the circumstances of life, pain, or busyness, the Holy Spirit supplies all the fuel I need to shine bright in a world darkened with sin.

Let Christ be your motivation and your Way as you run the race God has set before you.  Are you at rest?  Have you learned in every situation to be content?  Consider again the words of Hebrews 4:8-12:  "For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. ⁹ There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. ¹¹ Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  There is a rest remaining for all who are in Christ.  It is a rest to be experienced now, and also a rest remaining for us in the heavens.  We are to labour hard while it is yet day, for night is coming when no one can work.  For some of us, our break from earthy labour lies just ahead.

Keep going!  The scripture lays out the divide between truth and error, and this truth must be applied to our lives.  Stick to the old path; keep on the good way.  Jesus will transform us as we take His yoke upon us and learn from Him.  He has much to reveal to us, and will teach us to enter into His rest!