Elusive Rest

When a person dies, we say he has entered his “final rest.”  But there is another death that leads to rest: being “dead to self and alive to God” (Rom. 6:11).

Unfortunately, many believers have not understood this “dying to live” principle. It is very simple: we are legally dead to sin, but as we live in this world, we must die experientially. And as we do, He gives us rest (Matt. 11:28). But for those yet alive to self, in its various hyphenated derivatives, i.e., self-importance, self-defense, self-promotion, ‘rest’ remains elusive. 

Today as you commemorate Easter morning, don't forget that after Jesus arose, “He sat down at the right hand of God,” a posture of rest: His work was done (Eph. 1:20; Heb. 12:3). And now we, having risen with Christ, are “seated in the heavenlies” with Him, entering His rest (Eph. 2:6; Heb. 4:11). But since this capacity for resting is something we grow into, I can just imagine that whenever we start to feel the restless pull of life on earth, Jesus is saying, “Please come up here and take your seat”?