Resting

My oh my! It has been a couple of weeks since I have written on my blog! So sorry to those of you who diligently check. Busy, busy would describe the time for me. You too, I imagine. Easter is a very busy time, and then the next week-end I was the main speaker at our Psalm 19 Spring conference. So on and on it goes, and now it is two weeks later. Thanks for "tuning in."

I want to talk about resting for a bit. It seems to me that those of us who speak and teach, have a tendency to teaching a lot about "doing" and "thinking." We have a sincere desire to help those who listen with the how-to's of obedience. However, the more I read our Lord's word and the more I soak in His presence, the more I find an emphasis on "resting." Just plain ole' trust.

In the word, it seems to be more about what we trust, than it is about what we do. Our Lord Jesus said, "Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls." That is in Matthew, then in Hebrews 4, we are told that there remains a Sabbath rest, for the people of God.

It is a vast subject, but very revealing in our lives. When we rest we trust and rely on His word, then we find there arises an empowering to be. In that "being" we do and that "doing" is always obedience. Obedience ends up as a by-product of the "being" at rest in Him. Stress to obey, somehow leaves grace behind, and places the emphasis on "us" instead of "Him."

It seems to me to be an early revelation of Jesus Christ when the Father rested on the seventh day -- because He was finished. Hebrews 4 carries the same concept about our being finish when we enter the rest of God.

We would probably all agree that happens when we become Christians. However, for some reason, we lose that emphasis when we begin to live in Him. I think we need to re-look, and re-think, and once again, enter into the finished work by coming to rest. It is after all, His work, and His Kingdom, and His life. Or did we forget that in our working?

Just some thoughts. What think ye?