“So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.” (Hebrews 4:9-10)
Aren’t you tired of doing stuff to prove that you belong in the church? Aren’t you tired of doing things to prove your worth to the Kingdom? I know I am. Good news. There is a place of rest in the Lord where you are no longer required to do stuff to be accepted!
The underlying truth to the scripture above is that when you enter into His rest, your works cease. And when your works cease, He begins to work through you. How liberating is that?
You want the perfect will of God? You want the perfect works that He has destined for you to accomplish? Get your head around this:
Your works will always be tainted to the extent that they flow from your attempts to earn favor with God. The only works that can be perfect are those in which your flesh is not involved, such as those flowing from the place of rest.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
You see? There’s no point in working diligently in an attempt to earn salvation or acceptance from God anyway. For one, you could never do enough stuff to get your sins forgiven and earn His favor. Second, He’s already given his favor to you anyway as a free gift.
We do so much in this life in an attempt to be accepted. I know that teenagers are particularly susceptible to this problem because of an intense desire to be popular and “normal.” That’s why drugs and pre-marital sex are running rampant in our youth. That’s why our young girls don’t feel like they are valuable if they don’t have a boyfriend. It’s not a matter of “peer pressure” so much as it is a lack of understanding of who we are in Jesus, and more importantly who Jesus is in us.
[Jon Greene steps calmly from the soap box and walks away.]
