“The Rest of the Word”
Hebrews 4:12-13
December 28, 2025
I’ve finished six pillows in Needlepoint,
And I’m reading Jane Austen and Kant,
And I’m up to the pork with black beans in Advanced Chinese Cooking.
I don’t have to struggle to find myself
For I already know what I want.
I want to be healthy and wise and extremely good-looking.
I’m learning new glazes in Pottery Class,
And I’m playing new chords in Guitar,
And in Yoga I’m starting to master the lotus position.
I don’t have to ponder priorities
For I already know what they are:
To be good-looking, healthy, and wise.
And adored in addition.
So wrote Judith Viorst in the opening two stanzas of “Self-Improvement Program” in How Did I Get to Be Forty and Other Atrocities. She might be the poster-person for people in search of rest! More than a generation ago A. W. Tozer wrote about lack of rest in the church: “The accent in the Church today is not on devotion, but on commotion.…The old question, ‘What is the chief end of man?’ is now answered, ‘To dash about the world and add to the din thereof.’” You may know that feeling far too well. You are consumed with busy-ness. You know you need to stop, but you may not want to stop or you may not know how.
What will you do to attempt to provide rest for yourself? Where will you turn to find peace and quiet and tranquility? There are many suggestions: exercise, turn off the TV, engage in “self-care,” leave time for leisure, have more fun — get a hobby, sleep late, do something that takes you outdoors, eat less, laugh more, plant a garden, stop taking everyone in your life so seriously…
Often, if we are honest, we believe that God just adds to the busy-ness of our lives, so we also take a break from Him as well. And so, at times, in the name of the quest of rest we lose the discipline of Bible intake. We feel some sense of “freedom” that the shackle is loosed, but it is a danger to our souls.
What the writer of Hebrews says repeatedly in his book is the truth that there is a port of rest for those who are weary and even suffering. But our rest is not away from God. Our rest is in God, and specifically, Our rest is in God’s Word.
When we use the word “rest,” we tend to think “sleep” or “lack of responsibility.” But the writer of Hebrews uses “rest” differently. He means: a freedom from worry and anxiety, to be settled and secure, and to be confident (trusting). It is about security and peace of mind when circumstances might not be peaceful.
Scripture is what leads to that rest and is one of the necessities of life. Now very few of us would ever say that the Bible is peripheral. Most of us would affirm that the Bible is without error and it is the sole source of authority for life and godliness. It is a gift from God and it is a treasure. But do we live that way? Do the habits of our lives suggest that we believe the Bible is a necessity?
As we begin a new year this week, I want to encourage and stimulate an old habit this morning. Is the Bible really necessary, and why is it necessary? From Hebrews 4:12-13 we will learn that —
Our rest is in God’s Word.
In Hebrews 4:12-13, the writer provides us with six statements to affirm that the Bible is our rest:
- The Bible is Our Rest: It is Alive
- The Bible is Our Rest: It is Active
- The Bible is Our Rest: It is Penetrating
- The Bible is Our Rest: It is Discerning
- The Bible is Our Rest: It is Reckoning
- The Bible is Our Rest: It is Hope
Download the rest of this sermon on Hebrews 4:12-13.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by Tuesday.
“Open Bible with pen Antique Grayscale” by Ryk Neethling is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Words of Grace 