Make Every Effort

I used to cringe. Every time I read or preached on a certain passage from Hebrews, I would stop short of the final verse. If I went any further, I knew I would wince, closing my eyes and tilting my head back because as if to say, “Ugh, why did you add that last verse?” The final verse seemed so contradictory to the rest that I thought the writer had stumbled for a moment. The passage I am referring to says, “There remains then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.” -Heb 4:9-10. Beautiful, right? It is also profound, reaching back to the story of creation –how God made the 7th day, though He had finished His work in 6 days. On the 7th day He rested, though “resting” is not something God needs or does.
Here is the next verse; the one that troubled me: “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest…” -Heb 4:11
The Sabbath-rest was created through the cross of Jesus. The good news is that the work has been done. Salvation was impossible for man, but not for Jesus. Every prophecy ever spoken about Him was fulfilled in His life, and every Law was kept. By the time Jesus was dying on the cross, He had become God’s perfect “lamb without blemish”—a sacrifice for our sins. You already know that Jesus’ final words were, “It is finished.”
It is no coincidence that our Lord also declared that He was “finished” with His work of creation before He made the 7th day. Creation laid the foundation for God’s plan of salvation—a way for Him to bear our sins. Now, the work is done. We could never do it anyway. Thank God for Jesus, who once promised, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” -Matt 11:28. That promise is fulfilled.
Your faith in Jesus Christ has given you the Sabbath-rest. Salvation is yours. The Sabbath-rest is God’s name for your piece of heaven-on earth. According to His word, you live in heavenly realms, covered by the blood of Christ and hidden in the Light of His Holy Spirit. You are not working to get there anymore; you are not trying to keep the law either; it has been fulfilled and replaced by the Covenant of Grace. So why did the writer say, “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest…”? To me, resting is not resting if it takes effort to do it! That is what troubled me.
But now I know what it means. Though I had no idea, I have been engaged in this struggle for over 3 years now. The struggle came to me (and to you) as an invitation from our Lord. He said, “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened.” Matt 7:7.
Reading that verse, you might still be wondering what struggle it refers to. It sounds easy enough, and something you would like to do. But that is your faith talking. Directly opposite your faith is your flesh—a surprisingly strong opponent that has desires of its own. Alongside your flesh is Satan and his “world.” Caught in the middle is your mind.
The treasure that is the Christian life is found within the Sabbath-rest. We enter it through submission, through surrender, through humbly asking the Holy Spirit to lead us and fill us. The Sabbath-rest is the life of the Holy Spirit, and the asking and seeking is directed to Him, continuously. It is to give your plans to Him, and to be willing to forsake them if He says, “No.” The more of Him and His life you want, the more effort you must put into prayer, praise, and listening. It means rearranging your life because there is nothing more important to you than having time to pray, worship, sing, and thank Him—not for minutes, but for hours out of a day. Shocking, right? Well, that’s your flesh’s response. The struggle is real. Yes, the Sabbath-rest is already ours. But tragically, most Christians will never enter it. I feel that I have only just begun to discover His riches and power myself.