“ there remains a rest for the people of God”. (Hebrews 4:9).
Spiritual rest is a different type of rest. It is a state of cooperating actively with the Holy Spirit in all circumstances.
Resting in the Lord doesn’t mean an absence of troubles as men would have desired it to be. Men generally hate discomfort and will do all they can to secure comfort even breaking the law if need be.
Resting in the Lord is however a state of faith where the heart is surrendered, not in a passive state, but actively giving God the rein, confident that no given situation is above God’s control. It is a state of child-like faith, completely trusting God like a child would trust his parents.
Let us share a few attributes of spiritual rest in the Lord:
Rest allows the Holy Spirit to take the lead: When the heart rests in the Lord it allows the Holy Spirit to take the initiative, and then actively engage with the divine plan of God.
Moses knew this quite well when he asked God for his presence instead of taking the initiative without God. He said:“ If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here”. ( Exodus 33:15).
Brokenness: Those who have a mindset of rest in the Lord are broken, or else it will be impossible to have a trusting heart in the Lord. Brokenness, therefore, is a humble spirit, a recognition of our helplessness, which causes the heart to be in utter surrender to the Lord in a simple act of faith.
Sanctified heart: Those who are fully resting in the Lord have already sanctified Christ in their heart (1 Peter 3:15). Sanctifying Jesus in the heart means one has fully allowed Jesus to be King in one’s heart, without rivalry.
One Throne: When Jesus is King in our hearts mammon, lust, and disobedience to God cannot equally share the throne.
Too many Christians serve many masters and have set up many thrones in their hearts. Jesus rules some hearts on Sunday and other kings rule from Monday to Saturday.
Jesus said it was simply impossible to serve two masters so little wonder why many Christians are unable to have a trusting heart in the Lord. (Matthew 6:24).
Single-mindedness: a resting heart will not contend with doubt but will possess a single-minded faith in the midst of turbulence or doubtful situations.
The result of this type of faith is an extraordinary peace in the midst of pandemonium knowing that God is fully in charge.
Without a single-minded faith, the heart cannot but be given to constant turbulence, reacting to every circumstance with fear and anxiety.
But the scripture says: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you”. (Isaiah 26:3-4).
Finally, the resting heart knows and believes what others do not know, or do not care to fight for which is that “ there remains a rest for the people of God”. (Hebrews 4:9).
Just as the rescued Israelites from Egypt found rest from slavery in Canaan, the promised land, there is a superior rest when the true redeemed people of God shall rest with God in eternity. This is the greatest rest we must contend for on daily basis in other to be partakers of the eternal rest in the Lord.
God’s throne is in heaven and only one way leads to heaven, and only a peculiar people will make it home to heaven, the place of eternal rest and the scripture is clear about this saying, “ A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it”. (Isaiah 35:8).
The scripture asks a troubling question: “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul?”
Is your heart sanctified to walk on this highway? Or is sin and worldliness still enthrone in your heart? Do not hesitate to give Jesus the reign over your life today. Ask him to help you dethrone all other gods in your life. Ask him to teach you to walk in the higher way of holiness. Jesus is faithful to give true rest to your heart.
Reading
Hebrews Chapter 4
@aspire Ministries
