Yesterday we celebrated Labor Day in the U.S.. I heard one person say that whoever named that particular holiday should be fired since it’s actually a non-labor day! We get a day off to rest from our work.
And God is in full agreement with this idea. Hebrews 4:4 tells us,
For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”.
And just as God rested from His work of creation, He wants us to rest from our work of trying to be good enough, trying to earn our salvation, trying to be pleasing enough for Him to love and favor us.
My friends, God IS love (I John 4:16) so He cannot help but love you, just as water cannot help but get you wet!
Throughout the book of Hebrews God reveals that He has made a new covenant with us, and with it a better way to relate to Him. No longer must we earn the right to approach Him by following the rules and atoning for our sins by making sacrifices. Now we come through the perfect sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ, who put an end to the old system and fulfilled the Law on our behalf.
As the writer of Hebrews explains, Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:19-23)
You still have to put in the hours at your job to get that paycheck, but God’s system is different. So whether it’s Labor Day, Christmas, your birthday, or just another Monday, be sure you’re not trying to earn anything from God. Jesus put in the labor so you can rest!
There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His (Hebrews 4:9-11a NKJV).
