God's rest

Yesterday I was tired. It had been a long, hard and busy week and I wondered if I had made a difference in God’s kingdom. I prayed “Lord, am I serving You?” His answer follows;

“You are not supposed to serve Me all the time. That is why I gave Man a Day of Rest. Those that push themselves beyond reasonable limits in ministry have missed the essence of Christianity; a relationship with Me. If what you do does not proceed from knowing Me, you may be just doing busy-work.

A wife will serve her husband, but that is not all of their relationship. They will also have time together, spent enjoying each other’s company. He will also show genuine interest in development of her talents, her well-being, and provide for her needs. The husband will let his wife know that he cherishes her. This is a parallel to My relationship with My own Bride. If she is always busy she will not have time to enjoy Me and get to know how I think about her.

This is the Rest (Heb 4:9-10) I ask men to enter into; a rest filled with fellowship and enjoyment (Mt 25:21). My focus is not always on a man’s labor. In fact, a man cannot sustain his inner being against the onslaught of his enemy unless he knows that I love and cherish him. If a man’s sense of reward comes from his works, his enemy will accuse him of not doing enough so as to wear him out (Dan 7:25). So men and women must come aside from their labors, entering into My rest for them, that they can be filled with and strengthened by My joy. Those who remain in their works will find that their weariness is soon followed by bitterness and separation from the One whom they labor for.”

Perhaps it is our nature to reflect on all we do at the end of the day and feel the reward of our accomplishments. This is not unlike God’s initial pleasure after His 6 days of creation (Gen 1:31 & 2:3). Yet the Lord hallowed a day to rest and to enjoy what He did, and He extends an invitation to enter into that joy with Him. He wants to talk with us, as a husband does with his bride, and share His thoughts. The Lord will sustain us with His joy after we enter into the rest He has created. This will happen as we set aside the reward of our labors for the greater reward of our relationship with the Beloved, our Lord. Amen.