LIVING IN SONSHIP
A 52 Week Devotional Series By Barry Adams
DEVOTIONAL #47
A SON IS AT REST
The ultimate example of sonship at rest is best expressed in how our
Elder Brother, Jesus Christ lived His life here on earth. Though
continually being pursued by the sick, tormented and hungry masses, He
remained at complete rest within His soul. Though he was hunted and
criticized by an angry religious establishment, in His heart, there
remained a stillness and an absence of human striving.
As a beloved Son to His Father, Jesus really had nothing to prove. It was the love of His Father that really defined who He was (John 17:24) and NOT the things that He accomplished. Whether He was raising the dead or playing with little kids, His worth to His Father remained the same.
I believe that it was this revelation of love that enabled Jesus to be at rest in every circumstance… whether it was deemed by the masses to be significant or insignificant. The security of knowing His value to God was never in question even though His perceived value to His fickle followers changed like the wind. Because of Jesus’ vertical focus on His Father’s affirmation, He never caved in to the horizontal expectations of others.
The Apostle Paul writes about this to the Galatians when he said he could not please both God and man at the same time. (Galatians 1:10) I believe that if we focus on the eternal love and affirmation that our Father has for us, we will know that we have nothing to do to prove our worth to Him. I believe that it is this revelation of His love that will finally cause us to cease from all of our own human striving so that we can truly rest in His love.
However, if we decide to focus on the multi-faceted expectations of those around us (including ourselves), we will continue on the merry-go-round of trying to prove our worth. And on that never ending ride, we will still have to jump through every hoop that fickle people provide in order to validate our existence.
The amazing thing about Jesus is that though He lived at complete rest in His Father’s love, He was the most productive person who ever lived on planet earth! Being at rest does not equal inactivity. I believe being at rest in the love of the One who is love itself, will create a stillness in our heart and a peace to our otherwise busy mind that will cause us to do even greater things than Jesus did (John 14:12).
When our value to God is disconnected from our works, we will have the peace of mind of knowing that we are loved through and through whether we are doing amazing exploits for the kingdom or having a nap. This ability to be at rest in every circumstance will prepare the soil of our hearts so that our Father will be able to do exceedingly, abundantly above what we ask or think according to the power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20). And there will be no false illusions about who is doing the work.
My prayer is that the revelation of our Father's eternal unchanging love (Jeremiah 31:3) would set all our hearts at rest. I pray that we would be so convinced of His love for us, that we would be able to cease from our own works and enter into the rest that God Himself lives in.
I pray that the revelation of our immeasurable value to The Trinity would overshadow the conditional value that others place on us so we can all be free from trying to derive our true value from what we do.
May the eyes of our hearts be opened (Ephesians 1:17-18) so we can simply yield to the highest value that God has placed upon us simply because we are His kids. (1 John 3:1) And may we switch from living a horizontal life of people pleasing to a vertical life of living under the affirming tender mercies of heaven (Romans 12:1).
And as we learn to rest, may we all have the courage to simply lived a life of love (1 John 4:16), be the one-of-a-kind masterpiece He intended for us to be (Ephesians 2:10) and take on the easy yoke that our Elder Brother promised us (Matthew 11:28-30).
Hebrews 4:9-11 9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience. (WEB)
As a beloved Son to His Father, Jesus really had nothing to prove. It was the love of His Father that really defined who He was (John 17:24) and NOT the things that He accomplished. Whether He was raising the dead or playing with little kids, His worth to His Father remained the same.
I believe that it was this revelation of love that enabled Jesus to be at rest in every circumstance… whether it was deemed by the masses to be significant or insignificant. The security of knowing His value to God was never in question even though His perceived value to His fickle followers changed like the wind. Because of Jesus’ vertical focus on His Father’s affirmation, He never caved in to the horizontal expectations of others.
The Apostle Paul writes about this to the Galatians when he said he could not please both God and man at the same time. (Galatians 1:10) I believe that if we focus on the eternal love and affirmation that our Father has for us, we will know that we have nothing to do to prove our worth to Him. I believe that it is this revelation of His love that will finally cause us to cease from all of our own human striving so that we can truly rest in His love.
However, if we decide to focus on the multi-faceted expectations of those around us (including ourselves), we will continue on the merry-go-round of trying to prove our worth. And on that never ending ride, we will still have to jump through every hoop that fickle people provide in order to validate our existence.
The amazing thing about Jesus is that though He lived at complete rest in His Father’s love, He was the most productive person who ever lived on planet earth! Being at rest does not equal inactivity. I believe being at rest in the love of the One who is love itself, will create a stillness in our heart and a peace to our otherwise busy mind that will cause us to do even greater things than Jesus did (John 14:12).
When our value to God is disconnected from our works, we will have the peace of mind of knowing that we are loved through and through whether we are doing amazing exploits for the kingdom or having a nap. This ability to be at rest in every circumstance will prepare the soil of our hearts so that our Father will be able to do exceedingly, abundantly above what we ask or think according to the power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20). And there will be no false illusions about who is doing the work.
My prayer is that the revelation of our Father's eternal unchanging love (Jeremiah 31:3) would set all our hearts at rest. I pray that we would be so convinced of His love for us, that we would be able to cease from our own works and enter into the rest that God Himself lives in.
I pray that the revelation of our immeasurable value to The Trinity would overshadow the conditional value that others place on us so we can all be free from trying to derive our true value from what we do.
May the eyes of our hearts be opened (Ephesians 1:17-18) so we can simply yield to the highest value that God has placed upon us simply because we are His kids. (1 John 3:1) And may we switch from living a horizontal life of people pleasing to a vertical life of living under the affirming tender mercies of heaven (Romans 12:1).
And as we learn to rest, may we all have the courage to simply lived a life of love (1 John 4:16), be the one-of-a-kind masterpiece He intended for us to be (Ephesians 2:10) and take on the easy yoke that our Elder Brother promised us (Matthew 11:28-30).
Hebrews 4:9-11 9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience. (WEB)