Day #16

Reading Material : Hebrews 3, 4

The two chapters talk about entering into God's rest.

While we were reading this during the morning gathering at Chris' place, I had 2 images flash inside my head.

Waterfall

Body of water

 Which of the two would you consider to 'look like' rest?

At first glance, maybe the body of water?

Now although it might seem contradictory to claim that the waterfall is actually the better symbolization of what God's rest is all about, bear in mind that 'rest' and 'not moving / staying still' can be significantly different, and consider the following:

a. A person in debt sitting still in his chair, whose mind is splattered with doubt, uncertainty, and anxiety - is this what you would call rest?
b. A jogger who enjoys morning runs, feels completely at peace with his body during a slow morning jog. What about this? Is this what you would call rest?

A similar framework of thought is also necessary to analyze the term 'entering into the rest of God'.

And I thought Chris made a very insightful observation. He said that rest is actually implying that you are NOT staying put, but rather, that you are PROGRESSING.

The water cascading down the waterfall is always in motion, active and progressing, yet always at peace with itself; a constant, steady flow. It is clear (clarity of thought), refreshing (renewing of spirit), and represents the bubbly force of life.

On the other hand you have a body of water. It's not going anywhere, just a stagnant pool, motionless, passive, and immobile. It is usually murky (confusion and jumbling of thoughts), stale (the old, the unchanged), and is usually teeming with broods of insects and bacteria - a spawning ground for diseases, and the representative of death.

Now which do you think sounds more like rest to you?

Too often we fall into the vicious cycle of living just to get by; we just want to get through the day, and then the next, and then the one after that - our actions have no purpose other than that. We get caught up in our fixed routines so much that it is all we think about - a stale, unchanged, immobile plan.

And I feel that entering the rest of God indicates to us that there should be a sense of renewal from day to day, a brand new start, the same way our bodies recharge when we rest. How much more should our spiritual life be that way! We will often encounter situations where our spiritual lives seem to be bogged down; we do not seem to be headed anywhere. That should be a sign that we are not resting in God as we should do - surrender it all to Him and rely on Him, and watch Him dig out a channel to create a waterfall out of our stagnant lake!

Prayer : Dear Father, we thank you for today. That today begins the first day, of the rest of our lives - a fresh new start. We pray You breathe a sense of freshness into our lives today Lord, that we may look forward to spending one more day in Your presence Father. Amen.