Sabbath-Rest

Hebrews 4

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

1Therefore, since the promise of entering his
rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen
short of it. 2For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as
they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who
heard did not combine it with faith. [a] 3Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' "[ b] And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. 4For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words:
"And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." [c] 5And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest." 6It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts." [d]
8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

The only resolution I made back at New Year's 2007 was to follow Commandment #4 and "keep the Sabbath day holy." I made some attempts at it during my 2nd year, but it fell apart when I returned to Markham. Now that I'm back at school, I think I'm going to give it another shot. I was really excited when I came across the above passage last night, especially when it came to the point where we are instructed to "make every effort to enter that rest." How easy it is for us to make excuses not to rest on the Sabbath, but in the long run, it only hinders our faith because we grow tired and weary and burn out from ministry and work and school, etc.

I hope to truly take this to heart this year and "keep the Sabbath day holy."