Hebrews 4:9-11 (NKJV) 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
In our study of favor, this week we are looking at the rest of faith described in Hebrews chapter 4. Entering this rest is key to walking in the favor God wants to give us with people and circumstances. Yesterday we began looking at the idea that we enter the rest when we cease from our own works. The first word translated rest in this section of scripture means a “Sabbath keeping.” The Sabbath was given to man as a time to stop the normal labor of life and focus on the Lord. This is what we do when we enter the rest of faith.
There are three areas that Deuteronomy tells us are necessary if we are going to cease from our own works and enter in to what he desires for us. The first we studied yesterday, that is keeping the Lords commandments. The Ten Commandments are a revelation of God’s nature. We are free from the dictates of the Mosaic Law, but not from the Ten Commandments.
Today I want to touch on two other things the book of Deuteronomy stresses concerning maintaining and walking in our relationship with the Lord. First, Moses tells us again and again that we must obey God’s voice.
Deuteronomy 28:2 (NKJV) 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
What could be more relational than obeying the voice of the Lord? Once again we see that these are things that are not a matter of law. When my children were small they knew my voice. All I had to do most of the time was speak to them sternly and they would stop what they were doing and listen to what I had to say. They knew that my voice represented my will. Even today, when all six of them are grown, they know my voice and will respond to it.
God wants us to do the same where his voice is concerned. However, to obey his voice we must learn how to hear his voice. We do so in two ways. First, we read and meditate on his Word. The written Word of God is the voice of God. It is how he speaks. It represents his opinion on any topic. When we know his Word, we will be able to recognize his voice.
Second, we must take the time to hear him. God does not want to have to break into your day and get your attention. He expects you and I to give him our attention. If we want to hear his voice we are going to have to cultivate some quiet time with him. That is not to say he will never call to us in order to get our attention. He certainly will. However, if we never take the time to hear him on purpose we will usually miss his call when it comes.
One thing that the devil will tell the believer is that he or she cannot hear God. He will say that you are too carnal or too immature. He will try to convince you that you are incapable of hearing God’s voice. You may well be too carnal and that can keep you from hearing God but that does not mean your cannot hear him. You were designed to hear him and if you examine your life in the Lord, you will find many times when you did hear from the Lord. Do not “buy into” the lie of the devil. You can hear the Lord’s voice.
When you do hear him, you need to obey him. Many times in my life I seemed to have difficulty hearing the Lord. Usually the problem is that I did not do the last thing he told me to do. God is can get maddeningly quiet when we do not do what he asks of us. If you do not seemed to be hearing the Lord’s voice, ask yourself if there is something he has spoken to you that you have yet to do. Do that thing and you will hear God speaking again.
The final thing Moses tells the children of Israel they must do in order to walk in the blessing, or favor, of their relationship with the Lord is walk in his ways.
Deuteronomy 28:9 (NKJV) The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.
Once again we hear those who would say that this statement is about the Law and we are not under the Law. In the weeks to come we will look at this thinking extensively in light of the Grace of God. However, I do not believe that walking in God’s ways is in any way part of the law or contrary to Grace. If I am in a close relationship with someone I must cultivate a lifestyle that is in tune with their lifestyle. Once again using the example of my children, they grew up in a preacher’s home. There were things we did not do and places we did not go. They were in relationship with me and that required that they walk in my ways.
There were certain TV shows we did not watch. There were certain movies they were not allowed to go to. They were not allowed to listen to secular music in our home. When they chose to do any of those things when they were outside of my presence, they knew they were choosing not to walk in my ways. They did not do that very often. When they did they knew that the “way” home required they get back in tune with my ways.
In our house we went to church. We went every time the doors were open. Nothing else had higher priority in terms of activities. In our house we lived according to the Word of God. We were not perfect but our children understood the principles. These and many other things were part of walking in the ways of Kiefer home. There were times when those ways chaffed against the will of our children but they knew that the benefits of our relationship was far more important than anything the flesh might want that went against the ways of our family.
Now four of our children have families of their own and two are living as adults. They still walk in the ways they were taught as children. There are some modifications that have occurred as they married and molded with their spouses but, primarily, they teach their families the ways they learned as in our home. Our relationship with them is stronger than ever as we all walk in the same “ways” we applied together as a family.
That is exactly what Moses is talking about in Deuteronomy. When we walk in God’s ways we have the benefits of relationship with him. One of those benefits will be favor when we need it. How do we know his ways? We know his ways by studying and obeying his Word. We start with his commandments but his ways are much broader than that. His ways do not just involve what we should and should not do. They involve how we live life. They involve how we treat others. They involve choices that we must make that reflect the choices we can see that God and his people have always made.
There was a book that spawned a whole campaign some years ago. It asked the question, “What would Jesus do?” That is a good way to begin to walk in God’s ways. If Jesus would do it, it is a reflection of God’s ways. If Jesus would not do it, neither should you. Even if the thing may not be sin, if you cannot imagine Jesus acting in a given way, neither should you.
Obeying God’s voice and walking in his ways will lead you to the rest that faith should be in your life. It will also lead you to the favor God wants for you in 2013.
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