“For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, ‘As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’ although his works were finished from the foundations of the world.”

The Hebrews writer is determined that his readers understand that even though those who wandered in the wilderness failed to enter the rest, the rest is still available. The works of God spoken of here are creative works. There is no suggestion that God has been uninvolved in the created world. In other words, God rested from the works of creation but continued to work within the creation.

As in many things dealing with the church and Christianity, there is an element of now and yet to be involved in the rest of God. By virtue of faith Christians enter the rest even though it is not yet a reality. We have the rest as a sure thing so it is spoken of as if we were in it. This is how God deals with His people. When He promises a thing it’s as if it were already present. God’s promises are so solid that they can be spoken of as already obtained.

This is not to say that there is no way of losing the promise. Indeed the writer has gone to great lengths to show that even though God promised them rest they missed it because they failed to meet the requirements. This verse tells us the means to the rest. It is belief. It is faith. It is the trust that allows us to obey.

Task for Today: Don’t miss the rest. It’s a sure thing if you trust God to give it to you. That means you trust Him enough to obey Him. What about it? Do you feel you are already in the rest; as if it were already here? If you are faithful to Him it is yours. Checkup time, right? A little soul searching on your trusting and obeying would be a good thing to do today. Hard hearts come from failing to do that.