“God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said,
‘In my anger I took an oath:
‘They will never enter my place of rest,’
even though this rest has been ready since he made the world. We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: ‘On the seventh day God rested from all his work.’ But in the other passage God said, ‘They will never enter my place of rest.'”
Today’s passage references Psalm 95 in which God cautions his people to remember the story of Moses and not harden their hearts. God has created a place of rest and his desire is to share it with us. Entering his rest was significant all the way back to the creation of the world. But if we harden our hearts and turn from God, how can we enter it? He’s not going to force us to be with him.
In Romans 5 the Bible says that we are “friends of God.” But as in any relationship, if we take that friendship status for granted we might very well lose it. Moses thought that he and God were on good terms and nothing could change that. In the end, a serious wrong move kept him from entering God’s rest. When we focus only on God calling us “friend,” we sometimes lose a healthy level of fear. Proverbs 1:7 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of true knowledge. If you are really smart you will maintain an awareness that God is not to be taken lightly.
The good news — the heart of the Gospel — is that God has prepared rest for you and he has invited you to join him in it. I don’t believe that we have to wait for heaven to enter that place with him. We can access it in glimpses and pieces here on earth. In fact, the church’s mission is to usher in the kingdom of God and help prepare the new heaven and new earth. We create Heaven moments right now when we participate with God in the peace he has for us. God’s prescription for our time on earth is to follow his example — 1/7th of our time is set aside for rest. Don’t miss out!