“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).

Rest. How we ache for it. Long we have waited for it. And yet we get the sense things will grow harder before they get easier. Today is a good day to rest in God, and wait patiently on him. He is with you, and he will give you strength to get through this day, then the next, then the next.

Hebrews 4 speaks of Christ as our spiritual Sabbath. In him we already enjoy spiritual rest, the firstfruit of our eternal rest.

“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” (Heb. 4:9-10).

The Jews treated Sabbath as a sacred day, set apart from the other six, in which they prayed, sang, feasted, and enjoyed the fruit of their labors. Jesus is that Sabbath rest for us, the one who finished the work of earning God’s favor, and he has told us to rest in him alone. Already, we have a spiritual peace and rest, and one day, it will melt into eternal rest.
What a glorious day that will be!

Listen to the words of the Puritan Richard Baxter written in 1650:

“When we have had in this world a long night of sad darkness, will not the day breaking and the rising of the Sun of Righteousness be then seasonable? When we have endured a hard winter in this cold climate will not the reviving spring be then seasonable?…

“When we have passed a long and tedious journey, and that through no small dangers, is not home then seasonable? When we have had a long and perilous war, and have lived in the midst of furious enemies, and have been forced to stand on a perpetual watch, and received from them many a wound, would not a peace with victory be now seasonable? When we have been captivated in many years’ imprisonment, and insulted over by scornful foes, and suffered many pinching wants, and hardly enjoyed bare necessaries, would not a full deliverance to a most plentiful state, even from this prison to a throne, be now seasonable?…

“Now we are often grudging that we have not a greater share of comforts; that our deliverances are not more speedy and eminent; that the world prospers more than we; that our prayers are not presently answered. But our portion is kept to a fitter season. When the winter comes we shall have our harvest.” (Richard Baxter, The Saints Everlasting Rest)

Father, how we long for that day of rest. Until then, and for all of eternity, let us find our rest in your Son.