Hebrews 3:6-11
“Today, please listen; don’t turn a deaf ear as in ‘the bitter uprising,’ that time of wilderness testing! Even though they watched me at work for forty years, your ancestors refused to let me do it my way; over and over they tried my patience. And I was provoked, oh, so provoked! I said, ‘They’ll never keep their minds on God; they refuse to walk down my road.’ Exasperated, I vowed, ‘They’ll never get where they’re going, never be able to sit down and rest.’”
“Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. There you ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years. So I was angry with them, and I said, Their ‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”
Israel saw God’s miracles for many years in the desert and still they rebelled. Miracles don’t draw men to faith, they endorse God’s messenger. Faith comes from the desire of our heart and God’s Spirit. Some wonder why we don’t see more miracles today. At the Enlightenment we gave up the mystical for the scientific. Miracles today are merely things we don’t yet understand. But for those who walk by faith, miracles are everywhere.
The NLT and other translations read, “…never enter my rest.” I’d always read that as a spiritual rest or rest from material need. The Message says, “…sit down and rest.” A longing to cease physical labor, sit down and rest, is very familiar to me. I look forward to leaving this body of sin behind and enter an eternity free of striving against sin, ultimate physical and spiritual rest.
Lord, I feel fatigued, washed out and disconnected. Please continue to show me your miracles and give me rest.