HeBrews: A Better Blend
Welcome back to our study of the book of Hebrews. Today we move into chapter 4, and this month we will look at two concepts highlighted in this rich chapter. More on that later. For now, I would like for you to simply read Hebrews 4….either in your own Bible or below.
1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ “ And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” 6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence,so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
For a couple of weeks we are going to focus on the first 11 verses of Hebrews chapter 4. In these first eleven verses you should have found one word used repeatedly. That is the word ‘rest’. R-E-S-T…something most of us do not get enough of. Just thinking about rest makes me sleepy…..zzz…zzzz…zzzz.. Oh, sorry, I drifted off for a nap. Anyway, allow me to give you some interesting stats about rest.
We live in a day when most people do not get enough rest or sleep. We burn the candle at both ends. We run around all day like chickens with our heads cut off, only to drop in bed at an hour that is too late to offer much in the way of restorative rest. Check out some statistics from the website Sleep and You.
- Some 70 million people in the United States have a sleep problem. About 40 million adults suffer from a chronic sleep disorder; an additional 20 – 30 million have intermittent sleep-related problems. (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute)
- Effects of sleep loss on work performance may be costing U.S. employers some $18 billion in lost productivity. (NSF 1997 poll on Sleeplessness, Pain, and the Workplace)
- America’s adults average 6.9 hours of sleep each night, slightly less than the range of seven to nine hours recommended by many sleep experts. (NSF 2005 Sleep in America poll)
- One-quarter of America’s adults, 47 million people, don’t get the minimum amount of sleep they say they need to be alert the next day. (NSF 2002 Sleep in America poll)
- People who are already hypertensive may increase their risk of heart attack or stroke if they fail to get adequate sleep. (Lusardi P, Zoppi A, Preti P, Pesce RM, Piazza E, Fogari R. Effects of insufficient sleep on blood pressure in hypertensive patients: a 24-hour study. AM J Hypertens. 1999 Jan; 12(1pt 1):63-68)
- Shift workers are 30 – 50 percent more likely to develop heart disease than day workers in the same industry. (Tenkanen L, Sjoblom T, Kalimo R, Alikoski T, Harma M. Shift work, occupation, and coronary heart disease over six years of follow-up in the Helsinki Heart Study. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1997;23(4):257-265)
- More than one-half of America’s adults nap at least once a week. (NSF 2005 Sleep in America poll).
- While the majority of America’s adults do not use anything to help them sleep, for those who do use a sleep aid, alcohol appears to be the popular choice; 11 percent of adults said they used alcohol, beer or wine at least a few nights a month, 9 percent used over-the-counter sleep aids, 7 percent said they used prescription medications. (NSF 2005 Sleep in America poll)
