Hebrews 4:1-11
The Sabbath was God’s gift to humanity. He did not tell us to observe the Sabbath because he was being authoritative; he told us to observe the Sabbath because he knew it would be good for us. He knew that he had not created humanity to work continuously. We work because sin now requires it. We work because we have to work in order to survive. God knew that if we did not control ourselves, we would work so much that we would lose the joy of living. We need a day of rest, but rest is not the main reason for the Sabbath.

The true and most valuable promise of the Sabbath was the opportunity to develop and maintain a relationship with God. God knew that with our requirement to work it would be easy for humanity to neglect him and pushed him out of their lives. The Sabbath was to be an opportunity rest from labor, but most importantly, we were to develop a relationship with God. The most refreshing part of the Sabbath was not the lack of activity; it was the building of that relationship. Sabbath- rest always includes the element of refreshing time spent with the lord.

After wondering 40 years in the desert, God promised the Israelites a Sabbath-rest in their new home in Canaan. Because of unbelief, the original Israelites never entered that rest. Even after the Jews had entered Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, God still promised a Sabbath- rest. What they had achieved was but a shadow of what God intended.

Today God is still promising his people a Sabbath-rest. We have come to understand that the rest he is promising is fulfilled completely only after death. We refer to his Sabbath-rest as heaven. When we enter heaven, God’s promise will be complete. We will have entered total rest, and will reside in the very presence of God. Today we rest imperfectly, but that is OK, because of his promise, we know heaven is our final resting place.