By: Art and Beckie Melli
“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.” Hebrews 4:9-10
No longer do we work to “save ourselves” as Christians who are in Christ. No, our new life in Christ means we live out of rest! We do not have what it takes to live the Christian life. The only one who can live the Christian life is our Lord Jesus Christ. He promises to reproduce his life in us! We cease from our own labors and live a Christ dependent life daily that honors and obeys him and fulfills his mission that he gave us to make multiplying disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).
Paul reminds us of the Hebrew people and their wanderings in the dessert who did not enter the rest that God had provided them by trusting in God to lead them to the promised land. He urges us as New Testament Christians to avoid their mistake in Hebrews 4:11-12, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience.”
And how are we to avoid their disobedience? He goes on to say, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”. Hebrews 4:11-12 We allow ourselves to be consistently and daily under the teaching of God’s Word! This living, marvelous word becomes an instrument in the hands of the Holy Spirit with a two-edged action. It strips off the false. If we seek to obey it, as we read it we shall discover that it exposes the entrenched power of the flesh in our life, and strips off all pretense. It is not only the Bible which is meant by the phrase “the word of God.” It is the truth of God, whether it comes by sermon, by Scripture, or by some confirmation of life. It is the truth that strips off the false, discerning even between the soul and the spirit.
Friends – once again this summer at Hume Lake Christian Camps, we have the privilege to be under the teaching of God’s Word with some amazing preaching at the Hume Teaching Series during the ten weeks of summer camps! Everyone is invited! The weeks kicks off with a Sunday morning worship service in Ponderosa Chapel at 10:30am, and then Sunday through Thursday evenings in the historic Memorial Chapel right next door from 7 – 8:30pm. There is child care available in Huckleberry and Day Camp- sign up at the Welcome Center. The speaker list for each week and the speaker bios are listed on the Hume website if you click the button below.
Let’s not miss this opportunity to gather together and allow the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of God’s Word to do that wonderful work of transformation in our hearts and minds so that we can, together, live out of God’s perfect rest!
We hope to see you this summer!
Art and Beckie Melli Hume Teaching Series Hosts and Youth for Christ Int’l – Pastoral Care