“Let us, therefore, strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.”

Our first thought when we read this verse in the context of this chapter should be that there is a need to strive, or we may fall. The key to God’s blessings has always been obedience by those He chose to bless. The promise is to everyone, for God has shed His grace upon the entire creation. Jesus came to save every single person who ever lived, lives, or will live on this planet. He came to make all the wrongs right, to undo what sin did. He died so that mankind could live for eternity.

But, not everyone will because not everyone will be obedient. Over and over again, the writer has emphasized that God would not let them into His rest because of their disobedience. The writer is asking the Hebrews not to make the same mistake. His essay would give the same warning to us today. Hard hearts will not make the rest. Those who fail to follow His words will not enter the rest. Those who refuse the gift of Christ on the cross and live indifferent to His call for repentance and baptism will not enter the rest.

It was foolish for the children of Israel to wander in the wilderness for forty years and die outside the promised land. They had seen God’s work up close, and yet they refused to trust Him. Isn’t it just as foolish for people today to waste their lives on the wilderness of earth when they could achieve an eternal rest with God?

Task for Today: If you are not striving today, then please start. Set your sights on the rest of God. Make it your goal. Understand what will keep you out and what will make it easy to enter and then act accordingly. Don’t put this off!