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THIS WEEK’S BIBLE INSIGHTS ARE BY:
Cara Grant and are based on Hebrews 4 (NIV)
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE ON THIS WEEK’S MAJOR THEME:
Psalm 95 and 2 Peter 1
1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none2of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.
4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest
for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Sunday September 15 - God’s promised rest
Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands... Hebrews 4:1
Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). What a glorious promise for those who follow Jesus!
A question to ponder: what would it feel like, for we restless 2024 people, to be resting in God’s arms of love, worry-free, and perfectly content? We’ll be thinking about this throughout the coming week.
Meanwhile, Sunday, ‘the Lord’s Day’, is an appropriate day to start this week’s Hebrews reflections, in which God reveals the riches of what he calls his promised ‘Sabbath-rest’. Hebrew ‘Sabbaths’ (‘Sabbath’ means ‘rest’), on Saturdays, celebrate the day God ‘rested’ after finishing his creation work. Our Christian Sundays celebrate the day of Jesus’ resurrection – the day after the Hebrew Sabbath. Father God ‘rested’ when his creation work was finished, so Jesus the Son ‘rested’ in the tomb when his salvation work on the cross was finished.
Some early churches were slipping back into Old Testament law-keeping, seeking to earn God’s favour – so the letter to the Hebrews warns against this. Jesus, “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8) gives us hearts that will increasingly love to obey God. This week we see how Jesus is greater than the Sabbath, and fulfilled everything that the Sabbath foreshadowed, bringing us into ‘God’s rest’ in its fullest and deepest sense.
Precious Lord Jesus, I worship and thank you for your resurrection promise to me. Please help my heart to fully rest in you. Amen.
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PRAYER FOR TODAY