Need a Little Christmas Rest?

There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9 ESV)

Christian believers know full well the promise of the Sabbath rest that awaits us on the other side of the grave. But is there any rest for us now – especially with all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season? Does the writer of Hebrews have a promise for us in the present day? Read on, and be encouraged this Christmas!

The Sabbath rest discussed in the fourth chapter of Hebrews will find its complete fulfillment when we are living with our God and His people in the new heavens and the new earth. But before we experience that fulfillment, we will experience the first installment. So great a salvation have we been given that we can rest from trying to save ourselves. When Jesus shows up, He puts an end to our self-salvation projects. When He cried out “It is finished” from the cross, He meant what He said! The work of salvation has been completed. We can cease from trying to earn God’s favor through our good works — which, the Bible tells us, aren’t really “good” at all (Isaiah 64:6).

There is no more wearying a work than trying to earn our way into God’s continued favor and blessing. And there are millions who are burdened under this great weight, week after week, month after month, year after year. The joy of the Lord is as far from them as the east is from the west, because they are buried under the weight of working for a blessing, rather than resting in the blessings they have already received in Christ. You see, it is only by trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ that we will experience a Sabbath rest in a world marked by restlessness.

Remember this truth: Jesus Christ not only earned this perfect rest for us, He is this perfect rest. And by resting in Him, we begin to experience in part what we will one day experience in full: that Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God.

So if you need a little rest this Christmas season, rest in the shadow of the cross, where your Lord paid the penalty for all your sins, satisfying all the demands of God’s justice. Living in the light of this truth will set you free to enjoy the fruits of your labor, rather than laboring for the fruit that Jesus gives you freely and without cost.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!