God wanted to lead the Israelites to a place where they could live in rest. To live in a state of rest is to live, as it were, in the flow of God’s purpose. It is to lean into this purpose and let this purpose carry our lives forwards. To be at rest is to be like a plant in the right environment which grows uninhibited and bears the fruit it was made to bear. A plant does not exhaust itself to grow and bear fruit. In the right environment, it does this naturally. This is rest. God’s purpose is the environment in which we must rest and where we will grow and bear fruit. When God called the Israelites to enter into the promised land (their place of rest, where they would fulfil God’s purpose) they became fearful and would not follow his lead. As a result, something very tragic happened. Instead of leaving the desert to enter the fertile land of Canaan they turned back and wandered around and around in the desert for the rest of their lives. This is the sad fate of many people. They will not entrust themselves to God, but instead they let their own ambitions and fears dictate their path in life. As a result, they end up wandering around and around in a desert-like existence. Their lives bear little or no fruit and they live without direction or purpose. If you feel that this has been the case for you to any extent, then I have good news. It is never too late to start again.
Ask God to lead you and make you fruitful for his purpose.
Read Hebrews 4:1-13
