Rest in His Chest

Perhaps one of the most ignored virtues and aspects of Christian life is rest. When God commanded, "keep the Sabbath day holy," (Exodus 20:8) it was not for us to observe religious rites, but as Jesus who is God said, "One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:23-27). Rest isn't just sleeping or lazing around the couch, though both are good for soul from time to time, rather rest is state of spiritual being, when we let Jesus take our burdens, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light," (Matthew 11:28-30), and "by casting all your cares on him because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7). Spiritual rest is to rest in breast of Christ (John 13:33), just as Apostle John reclined on Lord's chest at the Last Supper, "One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining against Jesus' chest." (John 13:33). There in God's bosom we find peace for our souls, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7). It is this rest that helps us endure the test, when suffering and trial come we must find ourselves dipping our hearts in God's rest, letting Him take over, and trusting that He will help us get through the tribulation, "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials, tribulations, and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." (John 16:33).

I believe this an epedimic of unrest in the Church. So many people have Churchoholicism, where they attending three to five meetings a week at church ranging from prayer meetings to pew sitting on Sunday. In between these meetings is volunteering for causes affiliated with the Church, and doing other devotional steps that in of themselves are beneficial, but in this vein of ever moving and proving themselves becomes one more burden and heavy load of the Pharisees (Matthew 23:4). What people who are traped in Churchoholicism need, is the rest of Christ, "come to me, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28). Jesus is not trying to test your devotion by how many marathons you can run for Church or how many meetings you attend, but rather it is about a close knit relationship with Him, and you can't have this if you spend all your time trying to people please, and never being at ease on His chest and breast, listening intently to Him or just relaxing as you listen to Lord's heart beat and breathing. The closest disciple to Jesus was the one who reclined and rested on Jesus' chest, the Apostle John was the only one not to be martyred (John 21:20-23), and it was to Him that Jesus entrusted the Revelation which tells the detailed account of Christ's Return and everything leading up to it and after it. John did not earn this privilege by attending more meetings with Jesus or doing more miracles, or preaching better than everyone else, he earned it through intimacy with Immanuel, Jesus knew he could trust John because this was man who could rest at the Lord breast, and not always be counting his merit badges. While certainly John was not timid, but a Son of Thunder (Mark 3:17) which isn't anger, but zeal see, "But the people there refused to welcome Him, because He was heading for Jerusalem, When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, "Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?" (Luke 9:54).But aside from this firety zeal, John evidently knew how to listen as much as question and speak, because it was to Him that rested on Jesus at Last Supper that the picture and final book of Last Days was given.

It is when a Christian rests that they often hear best. Too often our prayers can sound like Pharisee, a long train of self promotion and repetious questions and demands from God, "When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again," (Matthew 6:7), when instead we should be silent and still, "Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world," (Psalm 46:10), "But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you," (Matthew 6:6), "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayer," (Luke 5:16), and "And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper." (1 King 18:12). We live in an age of noise and rowdiness that can make hearing the Trinity's still voice not only difficult but neigh impossible. This is why so many books about "hearing God's voice," and "understanding God's voice" have become popular. People are noticing that God's voice is becoming harder to hear. As the technologies get louder, and the druken crowds grow larger, the noise is poised to not only take our rest away, but make it increasingly difficult to hear God's voice, and so we must practice God's rest so we may pass the test (trials, tribulations, persecutions, John 16:33, Matthew 24:29, Revelation 14:12) and better hear His still small voice. Amen.