Tuesday after the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on September 28, 2021 by under
Scripture: Hebrews 4:9-13 (NKJV)
4:9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Devotion
Those who cling to their works—their own obedience to the Law of God—will find no rest. The sword of the Word of God preaches to us the Law. It cuts through our heart to reveal how much of a lost condition we are in if we cling to our works for salvation. The sword of the Word of God cuts away our props that we set up for ourselves so we see that the thoughts and intents of our hearts are inclined toward sin and evil. It also shows us that we may find rest not in ourselves, but outside of ourselves.
There is a rest for the people of the Lord God. This rest is found in the great High Priest that is mentioned in the verses following the pericope for today. It is His works that win for all those who believe on Him forgiveness for all their sins. We who cling to our Lord Jesus in faith have rest, because of His rest that He accomplished on our behalf. He rested in the grave for three days, and rose again. He now sits on the right hand of God the Father interceding for us as our great High Priest. He offered up His perfect life as a sacrifice for us, and it is this sacrifice to which we cling in faith so that in Him alone we find rest and forgiveness of our sins.
Prayer: Lord, we beseech Thee, grant Thy people grace, to withstand the temptations of the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow Thee, the only God; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
