January 18

Morning

There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. — Heb 4:9 BSB

How different things will be for the believer in heaven compared to life here on earth! Right now, we live in a world full of work and weariness, but in heaven, fatigue will be a thing of the past. We want to serve our Master, but often we find that our strength isn’t enough for the task. We constantly cry out, “Help me to serve You, O God.” Even when we’re fully engaged in doing God’s work, we often find that while our desire is strong, our strength is not. We may not get tired of the work, but we do get tired in the work.

But, Christian, the hard work doesn’t last forever. The sun is setting on your weariness, and soon it will rise again with a new day in a place where we will serve God without ever getting tired. Here on earth, rest is incomplete, but there, it will be perfect. Here, we’re always striving, never feeling like we’ve fully arrived. But in heaven, we’ll be at peace. We will have reached the top of the mountain, resting in the arms of God. There is no higher place to go!

Oh, weary servant, think about the day when you’ll rest forever! Can you even imagine it? It’s an eternal rest—a rest that “remains.” Here, even our best moments are touched by mortality. Our flowers fade, our joy is often mixed with sorrow, and our brightest days can turn into nights of grief. But in heaven, everything is eternal. The harp will never rust, the crown will never fade, the eye will never grow dim, and our hearts will be forever full of joy. What a happy day it will be when our mortality is swallowed up by life, and our eternal rest begins!

Evening

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself. — Luke 24:27 BSB

The two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus had an incredible journey. Their companion was the best teacher—Jesus Himself, the one in whom all wisdom and knowledge are found. The Lord humbled Himself to preach the gospel to these two disciples, and He’s still willing to teach even one person today. We should long to walk with such an excellent Teacher, for only when Jesus becomes our wisdom can we truly be wise.

Jesus used the best book for His teaching: the Bible. Although He could have revealed new truths, He chose to explain the truths already found in Scripture. With His perfect knowledge, He knew that the best way to teach is by pointing us to God’s Word. He showed us that the surest way to grow in wisdom is not through speculation, debate, or reading human books, but by meditating on the Bible. The best way to become rich in heavenly knowledge is to dig into this treasure chest, gathering pearls from its depths. Even when Jesus Himself wanted to teach others, He worked from the Scriptures.

The two disciples got to hear about the best subject—Jesus spoke about Himself. What could be better than Jesus explaining Jesus? The Master of the house opened His own doors, invited the guests to His table, and served them His own feast. The One who hid the treasure in the field also guided them to find it. Naturally, Jesus chose the sweetest topic to speak about, and He found none sweeter than Himself and His work. With this in mind, we should always search the Scriptures to learn more about Him. O for the grace to study the Bible with Jesus as both our teacher and our subject!