Are You Diligent?

Diligently. This word struck me funny today during my devotions, so I took a moment to look up Scripture on being diligent. The one I liked the best was Hebrews 4:11 (NASB), but let’s also include verses 9-10: “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore, let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” The entire fourth chapter of Hebrews is based on the believer’s rest. Why would the Hebrew writer include a whole chapter on rest? I think it’s because we easily push it aside. We see things needing to be accomplished and continually work to get them done. Rest typically is the furthest thing from our minds.

But God calls us to be “diligent to enter that rest so that we will not fall”. Do you know how important sleep is to your body? When we are sleep deprived, here are a few things that happen to our bodies:

You have problems with memory and concentration
You have problems finding the right word.
You get irritable.
Neurotransmitters in the brain become altered.
Children’s growth will be stunted.
You become more susceptible to infection.
At its extreme, sleep deprivation can lead to death.¹

Now, imagine you have not rested in God recently. Let’s go through this list one more time and see how not resting in God will affect our lives.

Can’t seem to recall God’s promises from His Scriptures. We get distracted by the world around us and find it hard to lean upon God.
Say things in an un-Christlike tone.
So frustrated because you feel God doesn’t have your back and you’re working so hard to get everything done.
You think differently when you’re out on your own and not spending time with God.
You can’t grow very well as God’s child if you’re not with Him much.
Temptation and sin so easily entangles us as we are weak.
The further we get from God the easier it is to forget His plans for our lives and can lead to spiritual death.

So, simple as it may seem, we have to be diligent to rest in God. We have to be persistent in our taking time for Him. We must rest. But, what is rest? I know as a child we took naps, read quietly or sat around the house on Sundays as our rest. As I have grown older, I find rest to be any enjoyment of the gifts God has given to me. Anything that clears my mind, relaxes me from the week’s stresses, calms my spirit is a Sabbath for me. Whatever is your Sabbath rest, make sure you take it. Take it for what it’s worth: a gift from God that is necessary. Take your Sabbath rest diligently, purposefully and without shame. God is our great Physician and He has prescribed us rest. Rest in Him today.