The Promised Rest
Open Your Bible
Hebrews 3:7-19, Hebrews 4:1-13, Numbers 14:20-38, 1 Peter 1:3-5
BY Erin Davis
My idea of heaven has evolved over time. As a young Christ-follower, I envisioned a rather me-centric glory, a Candy Land filled with the sweetest gifts my mind could conjure. I imagined hanging out with my heroes, lounging on comfy cumulonimbus recliners, and basking in my version of total bliss.
The longer I’ve walked with Jesus and the more I’ve searched His precious Word, the more my imaginations of heaven have shifted. It is not a place dedicated to my endless pleasure. Though God has promised it’s beyond my wildest hopes (1Corinthians 2:9), heaven is not most interested in our indulgences.
Lay your visions of just harps and angels aside and consider your eternal home with a fresh perspective. The writer of Hebrews lets us peek into the real heaven and see a place of profound rest (Hebrews 4:3,9).
While earthbound, we tend to think of rest as a feeling, a brief moment of closed eyes and relaxed shoulders, but in Christ, rest becomes a reality. And what shall we rest from? Among other things, ourselves. My heart is stirred by this thought: because heaven is a place focused on God, it is also the place where I will finally be free of me.
Rather than a scene of endless self-indulgence, Scripture promises a future where nothing is cursed by sin and brokenness (Revelation 22:3). That means a final end to our sin and selfishness, pride and pettiness, aches and pains, cancer cells and conflicts. We will finally be free of our navel-gazing because we’ll finally be fully with Jesus, freed from insecurity, greed, and our compulsion to gossip. We will rest from discouragement, defeat, and discontentment. We will rest from all jealousy, all hatred, all bitterness. We will rest from lust and self-loathing, anger, and animosity. We can live differently now, drawing on this future rest, because Christ is already at work undoing all that is broken today.
When you are weary of your sinfulness and sick and tired of being sick and tired, remember that soon enough you will see Jesus face-to-face and be fully transformed into His likeness—and that this complete work has already begun in part (2Corinthians 3:18). Life with Jesus is infinitely more than a good night’s sleep. It is exponentially better than a beach vacation. It’s a final, forever rest.
89 thoughts on "The Promised Rest"
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Love this! I get exhausted dealing with myself, and these thoughts encouraged me to continue to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus (not myself)!
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I have been very distraught at the nature of our world right now. Greed, selfishness, anger, resentment, lies, sickness, death all seem to be predominant. I am exhausted and reached a breaking point this week. My work requires that I take on the problems of others daily and it has been especially draining the last few years. This was a much needed reminder! Heaven is the place my soul is longing for right now.
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Traci, thank you for your prayers. I know that you understand. An old writer called it “the sacred circle of the sorrowing”. May the Lord help us to walk this grief journey in a way that honors Him.
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WOW. I love this paragraph:
“While earthbound, we tend to think of rest as a feeling, a brief moment of closed eyes and relaxed shoulders, but in Christ, rest becomes a reality. And what shall we rest from? Among other things, ourselves. My heart is stirred by this thought: because heaven is a place focused on God, it is also the place where I will finally be free of me.”
That’s such a neat concept to ponder… being free of me. We will be so focused on God that we will just be at peace… be enough… with Him. No people pleasing, striving to be enough, no worries, no fears… that’s freedom.
Ladies, I know this is late… I have a prayer request for my brother in law. He was supposed to start a new job last week but he’s been home, and my mother in law told me the day after he quit his old job of 10+ years, his new job revoked their job offer because his driving abstract wasn’t clean – he had one accident 6 years ago. He’s been depressed and I feel for him, his old job was getting toxic and it’s the only job he’s ever had. He’s looked for new jobs (A/C and refrigeration technician) but they either don’t pay even close to what he should be making, or they require the clean driving record. Thank you all in advance for the prayers <3
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Praying for friend Audren. I hope this dark time in his life makes him draw closer to God. Reading the book of John is a great way to start.
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this hit especially hard tonight… to be free from MYSELF. I am exhausted. Mentally physically emotionally sexually, just feel broken in every aspect of my body and mind. Chronically. Depression. Anxiety. Ptsd.
One day I will truly experience REST in every way, in a way that is perfect and complete because we have accepted and love Jesus Christ. I literally yearn for this day.
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Wow! That scripture is so convicting! Tonight I went to a tent revival and todays study kind of goes with what the Prophet said. Basically talking about being careful with unbelief. I know as I’m writing this I have been struggling with that God sees me, knows me, holds me and doesn’t show favoritism. I’ve always thought if God were to have favorites I’m definitely no one of them but to buy that lie is offensive to God. It’s me calling Him a liar and He is definitely not. I need to learn to rest in Gods arms instead of freaking out wandering if God will want me when it’s time to meet Him. I have definitely done ungodly things as a Christian that I regret. But those are things the enemy throws at me. Prayer in this area of my life would be greatly appreciated!
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My mother and grandmother had dementia so I lost them twice. I remember after my grandmother died I read a devo in The Upper Room where the writer was say her mother was in Heaven and now knew everyone. That lightened my heart a bit. Then it hit my mother and the devastating process started all over. In the last 6 months of her life she prayed everyday that God would bring her home. She was down to knowing 2 people my dad and God. He took her to rest. Praise Jesus for that relief. I miss her old self but I am thankful that now she knows everyone.
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