Enter His Rest
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.” Hebrews 4:9-10 NKJV
The rest that God speaks of in Hebrews chapter 4 is a rest that is different than the rest that we think of in life. To us, rest means to cease from our labors or efforts, to no longer be doing work but to be resting. It brings with it the thought of resting because of being weary.
In this chapter of Hebrews however, God is referring to rest as in the rest that He spoke of on the seventh day of creation. Verse 10 above is referring to this when it says God ceased from the works He did. When God rested on the seventh day it was not because of weariness from creation. Creation was an easy thing for God to do; He simply spoke creation into existence. This rest was a rest that meant all the work was complete. Creation was done, it was perfect and complete and there was nothing else to do.
So when Hebrews 4 speaks of there being a rest that remains for His people, it is not talking about taking a break because we are tired. It means we are to enter into that same rest of His. We are to enter His rest because all is complete. We cease from laboring in self and trusting in self to accomplish in this life, and we rely upon Him! We rest in Him regardless of what we see.
To enter into His rest means we have walked into His promises that already established for us, in all things. This is entering into His Promised Land for you and me in the victory of Jesus for our lives. It is the Promised Land for the believer in the area of healing, prosperity, emotions, family etc. It is entering into the rest of all of the promises of His Word because we have left self and self-reliance behind as we trust in Him and His Word for us.
J Todd Hostetler