Thanks to readers for the responses to the first installment in this series of Let Us Garden. My hope is that these articles will challenge us to a mutual pursuit of the things of God. You even indulged my corny play on words (let us vs. lettuce). The best response was in an email from Tammy Bias, Thanks again for this food for thought. I wish I had thought of that.
God speaks to us in the book of Hebrews and repeatedly exhorts, “let us” with a particular focus of mutual pursuit. So let’s add another head to the garden. This time it is “let us strive” taken from Hebrews 4:11.
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
–Hebrews 4:11
That rest is the destination of our journey – life eternal with God. We are to strive to get there. As we read through Hebrews, we are challenged to make sure that we are not merely close to God and the things of God. We are told that some get so close that they can taste it, but don’t actually eat. They eventually fall away. It is a sad thing when those who have claimed Christ disown him. Some disown Christ because of hardship. Others because of intellectual struggle. Either way it is disobedience. We are called to obedience that recognizes God as our father. He cares for us even when we might question his care.
How do we strive and avoid this kind of disobedience? How do we know we have eaten and not merely tasted? The answer is the Bible. Hebrews 4:12 indicates the power of the Bible. It discerns the thoughts and intentions of our heart. So get into God’s word as you strive to enter his rest.
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I apologize at the outset for the corny play on words. More on that in a minute. This morning I was doing a search for a passage of Scripture from Hebrews. I discovered that when God spoke to us in the book of Hebrews, he repeats a phrase that exhorts us to serious reflection and action. One of the ways to study the Bible is to note recurring themes or words in a particular section. In Hebrews the phrase let us is used repeatedly. Each time we should pay particular note to what follows.
As an aide to memory, I am employing the visual word play of let us and lettuce. There is no connection of meaning between the two similar sounds. So bear with me. Think about having a lettuce garden in your back yard. Each row will be filled with heads of lettuce. Each head represents one of the let us statements from the book of Hebrews. So here is the first one:
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.
– Hebrews 4:1
This is a sobering call for us to have fear. Not the kind of fear that paralyzes us, but the kind of fear that causes us to avoid taking God for granted. Would you join God in that rest from a life racked by weariness and sin? Would you find eternal refreshment in the presence of God? We are promised this if we cling to Christ and his grace. Yet it is not a cheap grace that we easily hold. It is a grace paid for by the blood of our Savior that we emphatically embrace.
The imagery in the verse is that of journeying on a destination. Joining God in his rest is the destination. We cannot come up short. Is your target merely the benefits of God or is it God himself? Is your love for God only for what he gives you, or is it for who he is? Is your faith based on your keeping religious habits or is it in Christ alone?
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