New food, more rest

Lord, each year-end I’ve reviewed the past, reconsidered my priorities and activities, made plans, even resolutions. This time I didn’t think I would do it, but on our long drive this week (from home to vacation where the weather is warmer) You seemed to be nudging me with thoughts of ceasing some of my labors and putting my focus in new places.

For devotional prompts, You suggested Charles Spurgeon’s classic, Morning & Evening. I’m not sure whether You will use the morning or evening selection to touch my life, or both, but You always speak if I am willing to listen.

Today, Spurgeon writes about the wanderings of Your people. They did not enter the promised land immediately because of sin, but after forty years of learning some lessons, You finally took them into the new land. There You promised rest from their roaming. You also changed their diet. 

And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. (Joshua 5:12)

How does this apply to me? I liked the new diet part — isn’t that a typical resolution for a new year! But You also had me thinking about ceasing some of my labors. That seems like rest, and it reminded me of a related New Testament passage.

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:8–11)

As I understand Hebrews 4, Your rest has two aspects. One is rest from trying to earn salvation. When I became Your child through faith in Jesus Christ, I ceased from my labor and entered into Your rest, a rest characterized by trusting Christ to do for me what I could not do myself.

The other aspect of Your rest is eternal. One day I will no longer struggle against sin, or fight spiritual battles, or experience the trials of life that You use to build my faith. That day could come this year, but if it does not, as Spurgeon says, there is no reason why this text should not still be true.

Hebrews says that, “We who have believed do enter into rest.” Also, Paul wrote in Ephesians that the Holy Spirit is the down-payment of our inheritance. That is, You give me a taste of future glory in my grand experiences with You in this life. Because of the Holy Spirit, I know a tiny bit of what eternal rest will be like.

I also know that those who have gone on to their eternal rest are totally secure, yet You also have made me secure in Christ Jesus. Those who are at complete rest have triumphed over their enemies, and I have spiritual victories here as well. The spirits of those made perfect enjoy perfect communion with Jesus Christ, but this is not denied to me either. I can rest in Your love and enjoy perfect peace with You. I can praise You and, as Spurgeon says, I can experience the gathering of “celestial fruits on earthly ground, where faith and hope have made the desert like the garden of the Lord.”

Going back to that verse from Joshua, the manna reminds me of spiritual food supplied directly from You through Your Word. On the other hand, the food of Canaan seems like spiritual nourishment which comes from You less directly, perhaps through other Christians. Could this mean that You will use the food You gave Charles Spurgeon to feed me? I hope so.

As the New Year begins, I look back with thanksgiving for what You has done, and forward to what You will do. Today, Your word to me is that I must strive to enter Your rest. This is not an oxymoron but another way of saying that I must obey You with all my heart — and You will show me a little more of that heavenly glory You have promised.