Rest

Rest

1. “For we who have believed do enter that rest . . .” (Heb. 4:3). We continue to go deeper and deeper into rest. Every step of faith is a step into rest. As we have let the Lord stand between us and our sins, so let us also let Him stand between us and our troubles, and thereby give our hearts rest. We must let go of everything and be surrendered to Him. In all things, the dominion must rest on His shoulders; then the increase of peace will have no end.

2. All our work shall be done through Him, and for Him: our work is for God, and our rest is for God: first rest, then work is the glorious order of the new covenant. We do everything in the rest we have in God, and we carry this peace with us into our troubled circumstances. In this way we can bring the blessings of the gospel and the victory of faith to our fellow men in the most convincing way. Since we know that everything is in His hands, we can maintain the equilibrium of the soul in all circumstances. Where others lose their composure, we can act with royal dignity.

3. Whatever we withhold, we do not keep for ourselves, but for the enemy. The enemy gets a foothold here. What you have held back for your own pleasure will sooner or later become a weapon of the enemy, with which he will use to choke you and strike you down. For in “seeking one’s own,” and “fearing for one’s own,” lie all the snares of the enemy.