Today’s reading is Hebrews 4

Tom writes:

Way back near the start of time, in an aeon now shrouded in mystery, a story emerged about God creating and then resting, delighting in what was good, having peace with what he had made. Many understood this story not just as a justification for a working week but as an expose of God and his character, and of his trajectory for his cosmos. We go back to that now. Hebrews confirms to us that the Seventh Day is a tantalising promise for how life could be. The Seventh Day is a glimmer of Shalom; of rest, of peace, of delight, of the sweet-scented aroma of everything being good. This is Sabbath. And now, the writer of the Hebrews, declares that that promise has been fulfilled and that glimmer has shone bright - we can have rest, we can see everything is good - if we remain in Christ.

The one who sat there on that seventh day is right here now offering us his rest. If we remain in him. The sabbath is not a day - it is the mood of the kingdom. The Sabbath of peace is not 24 hours of inactivity but a lifetime of beautiful encounter. Sabbath is lived out every moment of every day in the Kingdom of our God. It is peace with God, it is peace with creation. It is marvelling at all that is good and delighting in all He has made. We can enter it now to some extent and we will enter it fully when he returns with his Kingdom. Do you know his rest? Does your soul reverberate with harmonies of encounter? This is what this chapter invites us to. To know His Rest right now and to remain in him so we can know it fully when he comes.

Question for reflection

What in creation helps you most see the shalom that God intends for us all?

Hebrews 4 - Tuesday 17th September