The Covenant Life Blog – A Blog About Living With Jesus Today

Do YOU have REST in your life?

Matthew 11:28 —  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you REST.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”          

Hebrews 3:19 —  And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.  Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of ENTERING HIS REST, any one of you should come short of it.  For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was united by faith in those who heard.  For WE WHO HAVE BELIEVED ENTER THAT REST, …”

Hebrews 4:11 —  “Let us therefore BE DILIGENT TO ENTER THAT REST, …”

What the people of this world are seeking more than any other thing is the very thing that God wants to give us more than anything else —  REST.

This world is filled with fears, anxieties, depression, sickness, disease, poverty and lack.  People spend the vast majority of their lives seeking solutions to these issues of life.

Here is a picture of a life of REST:  Psalm 23 – The Lord Jesus is Our Shepherd.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil;

For Thou art with me;

Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

Thou hast anointed my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

This passage of Scripture gives us a picture of our relationship to the Lord and our walk with Him.  He does all of the work.  We simply REST in what He is doing.

He takes responsibility for our provision, our protection, and placing us in a position of rest.

Remember Matthew 11:28?   “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

He is saying if you are weary of the daily battles in this life and you are weighted down with responsibilities and problems, come to Him and He will give you as a gift – REST.  You don’t have to earn it, beg for it, or do something to receive it.  He simply gives this rest to you as a gift of His abundance of grace.

Look what Jesus said concerning being anxious in this life.

Matthew 6:25-33.  “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not worth much more than they?

And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span?

And why are you so anxious about clothing?  Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these.

But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you.  O men of little faith?

Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’

For all of these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need these things.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.”

 Philippians 4:6-7.  “BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

If we are not living a life in a position of REST, the question we have to ask ourselves is, “Why not?”

The scripture tells us in Hebrews 3:19 above that the reason for not being in rest is because we do not believe.  Scripture says “For WE WHO HAVE BELIEVED ENTER THAT REST, …”  If we have not entered the rest it must be because we have not believed what has been made available to us through Jesus.