God's Promised Rest - By Toni M. Babcock
"I go to prepare a place for you…" (John 14:2b KJV)
Jesus is preparing a place for His people. Isn't it a lovely, restful thought? No lengthy to-do list, no obsessing over whether or not we have remembered everything we need to get in order to get to Jesus' place. God has it all under control.
I think the place that Jesus prepared is a place we can live in right here, right now. It is the promised Rest God prepared for his people. The writer to Hebrews put it this way; "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God, for he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His," (Hebrews 4:9-10 KJV). That doesn't mean God doesn't expect us to do anything in His kingdom. It means we are resting in the work Jesus accomplished to save our souls. Meanwhile, we busy ourselves exercising faith, allowing Jesus to work through us in a hurting, desperate world. Resting in Jesus is a holy happy place to be.
On the contrary, the natural man cares not for God's kingdom, or His promised Rest. He would prepare a place for himself in the world, not live in somebody else's. As for goodness, he wants his good deeds to be attributed to himself. He would rest in his own laurels, not in what the Lord has accomplished. If there is a heaven, he assumes it is in his own hands to get there on his own terms, and that he deserves all the credit. Meanwhile he busies himself establishing his own kingdom in the world. Sounds like an unhappy place to be, wouldn't you agree?
Toni is a Christian writer who resides in Minnesota. Read more of her articles and books HERE. |
