What is your favorite way to rest? Maybe you like to get lost in a good book. Maybe you like to share a meal with your loved ones to rest. Maybe you like to go for a walk. We all have our favorite ways to find rest. In our Bible study together this week, we have learned that rest is a gift for us. It allows us to keep doing all of the things that God has called us to do. Rest also gives us a beautiful picture of the eternal rest that is to come one day.
The writer of Hebrews writes about a future rest that Christ followers will experience one day in Hebrews 4. In this chapter, he explains that “there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God.” This teaching gives us a promise to claim that everyone who places their faith in Christ will experience eternal rest one day. You see, when Christ returns and makes everything, every Christ follower will experience the never-ending rest that only God can give.
The apostle John gives us more insight into what God’s eternal rest will look like in the book of Revelation. In this Revelation 13, he explains that those who have placed their faith in God will “rest from their hard work” after their life on earth is over (verse 13). Later in the book of Revelation, in chapter 21, we learn what life will look like for Christ followers when He brings about a new heaven and a new earth. There will be no pain, no tears, or sorrow (verse 4). This will be the ultimate rest for our souls that will never end.
The rest we experience here on earth is good. It helps us recover and allows us to be refreshed and ready to keep living the lives that God has called us to live. It also serves as a reminder of an even greater eternal rest to come. You see, the rest we experience on this earth gives us a reminder of the rest awaiting God’s people. When we enter into that eternal rest, we will have no heartbreak or tears, which will allow our souls to be at rest. I cannot wait for that day!
How can you make room in your life for rest this week? Maybe you need to say “no” to something or rearrange your schedule to find a few moments for rest. However you need to find rest; make every effort to rest this week. Commit to making rest a habit you participate in every week.
1Then I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of mighty ocean waves or the rolling of loud thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together.
3 This great choir sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. No one could learn this song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 They have kept themselves as pure as virgins, following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the people on the earth as a special offering to God and to the Lamb. 5 They have told no lies; they are without blame.
The Three Angels
6 And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 “Fear God,” he shouted. “Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the springs of water.”
8 Then another angel followed him through the sky, shouting, “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen—because she made all the nations of the world drink the wine of her passionate immorality.”
9 Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand 10 must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.”
12 This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!”
