Hebrews 4:8-10

Summary retelling of Hebrews 4:8-10

The author reminds us that the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness did not go into rest, because God’s Word tells us to not harden our hearts today.  In other words, human beings have not yet found permanent rest and there is still time for people to receive God’s grace.  Thus, there is also a future rest to come.  There will come a time when we will rest from our works permanently.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Today we can see the third type of rest. Yesterday we talked about past rest – that is, rest we felt when we become a follower of God.  We also spoke about present rest, knowing that we rest in God’s hands while we go about our present work.  Today we hear about future rest.  There will be a time when our work here on earth is over.  There will come a time when we will rest permanently in God.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll do nothing in heaven; it means that the work we do will be completely and totally work done with and for God in his presence.

What do you think about when you think of eternity?  If you had any hope of what eternal life will be like, for what would you hope?

Second Thought:

The author also seems to indicate that we have not entered into permanent rest yet.  We may be doing God’s work here on earth, but we are also living among the world.  There is more work to do.  The final day of judgment has not yet come.  There are people who still need to hear about God and His love. 

What work do you still need to do before you enter into the future rest?

Third Thought:

As we talk about work to do and the time we have left to do it, we should also talk about motivation.  The author of Hebrews doesn’t mention this, but it is an important part of the conversation.  We can do God’s work.  We can even look forward to God’s rest.  We can take solace that we rest in Him now as we anticipate His greater rest to come.  But we don’t work for that motivation.  Our motivation is obedience to God.  We work because God desires it from us.  We don’t work for our own glory or so that we can earn a reward.  We work for God’s glory because we are His people.

Do you always work for God’s glory?  When we don’t work for God’s glory, how do those times make us grateful for repentance and forgiveness?  How lucky are we to still know that we have an eternal rest to come in spite of our imperfections and occasionally flawed motivations?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 4:11-13