We race about seeking our own welfare, driven by the lusts of the flesh, driven by personal ambition, by fear, by duty, by ignorance. We constantly are in a state of fear, anxiety, and unrest, hoping that some new thing, circumstance, or relationship will bring joy and peace to our heart.

Does the fact that God has completed all things in His timeless vision mean that no matter what we do we will end up where we are supposed to be? Not at all! We are commanded to labor, to strive to enter God's rest (Hebrews 4:11).

Why must we strive to enter God's rest? It is because Satan, our mind, the world, the lusts of our flesh, and our self-seeking soul all work diligently to persuade us to create the heavens and the earth according to our own understanding. We cannot let go and trust God with our life.

Is it a matter of just relaxing and allowing God to move in us? Not at all! The person who waits passively for God to move in his life will fall into deception.

Rather it is a case of understanding deeply, thoroughly, and finally that all things are working together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His eternal purpose in Christ. Then we approach each day of our life with the intention of abiding in Christ throughout the particular day.

This may sound easy but it can be very difficult at times. For Christ keeps stepping back. Each day He steps back and says, "Follow Me here."

Christ deals with us every day because He is crucifying our old nature. He continues to bring us into situations that crucify the "old man" of our personality and bring forth the new creation that God has planted in us.

The process of crucifixion and resurrection continues until every element of our personality has died and been born again in Christ; until all that we are praises the Lord in righteousness, in holiness, and in obedience to God; until every atom of our being worships God in spirit and in truth.

Entering the rest of God is attainable in this present life, as we understand from the exhortation of Hebrews 4:1. But the path that leads to the rest of God is the path to eternal life and few there are who find it.

Attaining the rest, the Amen of God, is difficult but not impossible (although we would not minimize the degree of patience required as the saint keeps looking to the Lord). It is not a case of sinless perfection or even of meeting the standards of other people or our own standards. The issue is that of ceasing to attempt to create our own image, relationships, fruitfulness, and dominion.

There does come a day when our warfare has been accomplished, our rebellion has been pardoned (Isaiah 40:2). Then we are ready to begin an eternity of ever-developing image; loving, joyous, and peaceful relationships; Abraham-like fruitfulness; and universal dominion. This is what it means to die in the Lord, to rest from our own labors, and to have our works follow us as the natural outcome of our rest in the finished creation of God.

To be continued.