Derek Smith
Lead Pastor
Hebrews 4:9-11
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
The story is told of a young proud lumberjack who challenged an older lumberjack to a little wood chopping contest one day. The young woodsman chopped frantically all day long, only stopping for a brief period to inhale a sandwich. The older more experienced woodsman took multiple extended breaks and a long leisurely lunch. After an eight hour day, the cocky challenger was flabbergasted to find that the old timer had chopped significantly more wood than he had. “I don’t get it,” he said. “Every time I turned around you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did!” The wise aged lumberjack said, “That’s because every time I sat down I sharpened my ax.”
From the very beginning we learn that life is about rest. In the creation account of Genesis 1 it says “there was evening and there was morning” to describe the days, so each day started with evening rest. For the Hebrew every day started with rest, and on top of that every week ended with rest on the Sabbath. The Lord tells us to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy. Jesus Himself said, “Come to Me all who are weary and I will give you rest.” Whenever we turn from sin and trust in Christ we rest in what He did for us on the cross as being enough for our salvation. I don’t have to work to earn God’s favor; in fact, I can’t. So, today: REST. Resting is one of the most spiritual things you can do. Rest in God’s love for you. Rest in God’s provision. Trust in God’s protection. He loves you as much right now as He ever has or ever will, no matter your performance of late. Taking a day every week to rest is an unequivocal declaration that Jesus is enough. So, REST. Enjoy God’s creation. Enjoy your family. Enjoy all that God has done and trust in all He will do. Sit down and sharpen the ax. Your body, mind, soul, and spirit will thank you for it.