For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. (Heb. 4:10)
THE GULLAH-GEECHEE CULTURE is famous for beautifully woven sweet-grass baskets. I’ve had the opportunity to see their works of art when vacationing in South Carolina. The handmade vessels are sold from twenty-five dollars to well into the thousands of dollars, depending on size. I saw one intricate basket, perhaps twelve inches across; it was priced at $210. A note on the basket said “Thirty days’ work.”
I was reminded of the Guatemalan trip my husband and I made with our young son when we brought our adopted daughter home. I recalled the ornate, colorful blankets we purchased as souvenirs. About a hundred dollars at the time, they represented weeks of work done by Mayan women. Though we’d given my father one as a saddle blanket, he’d objected, saying he couldn’t put something like that on a horse.
The writer of Hebrews advised believers to work diligently for God and His kingdom, knowing their eternal rest waits for them. Christians then were spurred on by that heavenly promise, and we should be motivated by it today as well. Like the commitment and steadfastness shown by the Gullah-Geechee basket makers and the Mayan weavers, Christians should work passionately for Christ until the day of the promised rest. What a rest that will be—well worth thirty or three thousand or three hundred thousand days of work for Him!
Share today the joy that comes with His promise of eternal rest for all believers.
Hally Franz is a former high school guidance counselor, turned stay-at-home mom. She enjoys being a 4-H leader, church secretary, book club member, and traveler.
