Rest. Today.

But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. 

So, as the Holy Spirit says:

     “Today, if you hear his voice,
        do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion,
        during the time of testing in the wilderness, 
        where your ancestors tested and tried me,
        though for forty years they saw what I did.
      That is why I was angry with that generation;
        I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
        and they have not known my ways.’
      So I declared on oath in my anger,
       ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” (Hebrews 3:6-11)

Those latter indented words are from Psalm 95 and are looking back at the Hebrews who had escaped from Egypt and then, in the wilderness, thought it in their best interest to begin doubting God. God, who had sent them Moses, who had performed signs and miracles, who had set them free, who had sent them forth with a huge bounty of gold and goods, who had crossed them through the Sea, who had destroyed their enemy, who had provided for them day-by-day, who had shown them His Glory - that God suddenly seemed to them less than trustworthy...

And it's funny how often I'll scoff at their ancient unbelief - like, "How could they not get it together?" - when let's consider for a moment our own reality as it pertains to His unbelievable power and promises - and our unbelief. God, who has sent us Jesus, who showed us the power of the Kingdom by performing signs and miracles, who set us forever free, who has sent us forth with the boundless riches of our heavenly inheritance, who has washed us in His own "sea" of blood, making us holy and blameless, who has destroyed the Enemy, who has provided for us every day of our lives, who has shown us His Glory in countless ways - that God we're not sure can accompany us through this particular workday... 

In case you're missing my drift here, I'd say 90% of our lives we are those Israelites, wandering through the wilderness; we're just less obvious than them about our unbelief.

But, friends, what is actually on offer to us here? The answer frames those words from Psalm 95. What is the last word offered? "Rest." And the first word quoted from that psalm? "Today." This next glorious theme of Hebrews, the life we're actually meant to have, the experience those Israelites were meant to enjoy, is as follows: REST TODAY. The real heavenly trustful rest that Jesus intends for us - in Himself.

And so, what is the lynchpin command, tucked into Psalm 95, that is the necessary non-ingredient for learning to rest in Jesus today? "Do not harden your hearts..." ie. Allow no longer for a heart of stone, of doubt, of unbelief to lead your life. Be as gentle, and humble, and softhearted as was Jesus Himself - take on His heart - in the conduct of your everyday that is always "Today."

He is able, personally, to give you that heart. It's His. You actually need only ask - and then receive.