Rest

I have recently been reading John MacArthur's commentary on Hebrews. In the chapter corresponding with Hebrews 4:1-13 he had some thoughts about rest that were very helpful to me. The definition he gave for the basic idea of rest is that it is "that of ceasing from work or from any kind of action. You stop doing what you are doing. Action, labor, or exertion is over." This applied to God's rest means we stop trying to please him on our own. We stop trying to fool ourselves into thinking that we can do anything without Christ. We can rest in His wonderful grace.

Entering God's rest also means that we can have freedom from worry, guilt, our temper, and legalism. Worry about our past or our future can cease. Worrying about sin is gone because Christ has forgiven our sins. Christ has taken care of it all and all we have to do is trust him. Also guilt can be laid to rest. I know sometimes I get so down and can feel so guilty about things that have already passed. They are done. Gone. I have asked forgiveness from God and He has forgiven me. 1 John 1:9- If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Rest from our tempers means that mentally and emotionally we can be at rest. We no longer need to be so easily angered or set off by the things others do that put us on edge. We have the love of Christ in us and the rest that only he can give. Old habits of being so easily annoyed and frustrated by others can be put away.  God's rest means letting go of the old legalistic works that we used to cling to. It's trusting Christ fully and only.

MacArthur also points out that "rest can mean to lie down, be settled, fixed, secure." No more swaying from one thing to another searching for truth. No more going from one fad to another and trusting in whatever seems good to trust in that day. We are grounded in Christ. He is our rest. He is our truth. He is the one thing that we can hold on to forever. MacArthur says "In Christ, we are established, rooted, grounded, unmovable. That is the Christian's rest."