Homework Done

12.11.13

Hebrews 4.9-10 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. (ESV)

My dad served in the Armed forces for twenty-six years. He enlisted in the Army in 1946 at the end of WWII. I was born in 1955 and at the time we lived at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. As I read Hebrews this morning, and read about rest, I thought about my childhood and one specific time when a kind of rest became real to me.

We lived at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and I went to Barden elementary school. I remember at the time (this would be the fall of 1962) having a tough time with reading. I hated to read. But I had homework most of the time and reading was part of that homework. I can’t remember the book, but I remember it was a small hardbound volume with a red cover. I had to read it. I didn’t want to read it because I didn’t want to sit still long enough to read it. But I had to.

I learned at that time of life the joy of getting one’s homework done and the relief of going to class with the freedom to participate because I had done what I was supposed to do: read!

The writer of Hebrews wrote: So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Joy. Relief. Freedom. The homework is done.

God’s rest, His Sabbath is for those who believe and have ceased trying to impress Him by keeping the rules (and making up new ones as they go along…) We live in the Age of Rest. God made this world for us and when He finished, He rested. He also made a way for men to know Him and enjoy Him forever…that is until man decided the deal wasn’t good and chose self-rule.

After that, God set about redeeming mankind (you, me, and everyone else) from endless striving to live life on our own. That redemption is what He calls REST; and that is what He has given us in His Son Whose advent we celebrate this time of year. The rest God gives is belief in Him, fellowship with Him, and obedience to His commands (not rules, but eagerly choosing to do as He tells us to do.) That is rest. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. All we need do is believe and obey.

One day the Age of Rest will close at the opening, the dawning, of the advent of the Age of Completion. The current order of earth will cease and the New Order of Heaven will be. Until then, we are to cease striving to make our relationship with God, and simply receive and believe in His relationship with us. In the Age of Rest we are to hang out with Him and do what He says, say what He says, and go where He leads. No striving, no conniving, no surviving; just thriving in the joy, relief, and freedom that the homework is done and we are free to participate!

Father, today is the day of rest while working, conversing, praying, and serving. Yes, there is much to do, but I won’t do it in my own power, under my own steam – I live and move and act with all of my being in You; freely participating in the Kingdom You have established. Amen.