A Thought or Two

So, I realize I haven't been blogging much. I mean, I've been posting a lot but it's just been the project 365 stuff that's been going up, with maybe few other bits here and there, but not any thought provoking posts. Not to say that my brain has died! Not at all! I have had a couple of things I have wondered over the last few days, I just haven't taken the time to write about them...

My husband and I are reading Hebrews right now in our devotions together, and I love this book. Anyway, a few days ago, reading the first (and second too, I believe) chapters of Hebrews, I found myself wondering about angels. Angels are ministering spirits. They are sent out to serve those who are to inherit salvation (man). And the verse that got me wondering about how angels felt was Hebrews 2:16 which says "For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham." So... that led me to wonder a bit about angels. And after wondering about them for awhile, I got to the point of angels 'choosing sides'. After all, Lucifer was an angel until he rebelled against God and took a number of angels with him in the process. So I was wondering... do angels change sides? As people, you have Christians who decide not to be anymore, and people who didn't care for Christ suddenly seeking Him... do angels do the same? Are they able to do the same? God gives us the spirit of choice, something He must have given His angels (otherwise, why did some choose to rebel?), so I wonder...

And I wonder why I wonder? It doesn't really change anything... or does it? Do we need to pray for these ministering spirits as well? Perhaps pray they will get to their destinations without hindrance from demons? If God helps us and not angels, if He listens to our requests, does it mean we should make requests for them (in regards to other things we pray for... as an example, that Bibles will safely make it to... wherever... so maybe we pray that angels will guide them and that the demons who would prevent them would fall)? I'm not sure (my brain likes to play weird games like this sometimes).

And then, last night, we read about entering God's rest (Hebrews 4). Paul was saying that many would not enter into His rest because of disobedience. I started wondering about this rest. Is it the time we leave this world and spend eternity with Him? When He says "Well done, good and faithful servant"? Is it a Sabbath rest that he is talking about? He mentions that God rested the seventh day, but only mentions that once, and the rest he speaks of seems to encompass more than that. Is it the same type of rest as having done something 'big' and being finished... you know, like when you study really hard for a test and leave that room feeling that you did a good job? The sort of rest you get from doing your best at whatever it was God gave you to do, and finishing? Perhaps that is the reason some won't enter His rest, because they chose not to do that thing God asked them (either one thing, or many, and so they won't enter into His rest for that due to their disobedience). I'm really not sure... but it got me thinking.

My husband and I then discussed why Paul would feel he needed to talk about 'rest'. We talked about how it is mandatory to have a certain number of breaks a day for a certain number of work hours, or a certain number of days off in a week, or a certain holiday/vacation time in a year, and noticed a trend. Rest is 'required'. Why? People NEED it. We were built in such a way that we need a recharge, a rest period, to enter into some form of rest... and more than just sleep. Rest that isn't sleep. Rest that is doing something we enjoy, doing something that isn't necessarily to 'further' our 'success' (or our financial status). We need to be rejuvenated. My husband commented that, before the Romans took over Israel, the Israelites farmed their own food, worked their own trade, and traded items for items. It depended on what you needed, not on saving things up necessarily (although I'm sure there was some form of saving, but anyway...). The Roman influence came in, and so did their money and infrastructure. Now you could sell what you made/farmed/grew and make money, which was easier to trade for other items. That meant you could farm more, grow more, make more, and sell more for money, not worrying about things going bad as easily either due to more people buying your goods (there is infrastructure now, right? Roads and stuff for easier travel and goods could move easier than before). You could save your money to buy bigger things, foreign things, etc. And so, the temptation was there to work harder and longer, making more and more and in general, becoming too busy to enter into any 'rest' with God, family or otherwise. I believe Paul needed to bring up 'rest' due to people becoming overly focused on money and stuff.

Then again, I could be wrong.

Looking at everything, I guess my mind sure can take one little verse/passage and turn it into a novel! Mountain out of a mole-hill? Or maybe my mind just doesn't know when to quit. In any case, I have so much I'd love to ask God when we get to heaven.

Well, that is my little "thought" blurb for the day... or maybe the month... haha. Don't you love those little 'aha' moments you get when reading something? I know I do... until my mind runs away with it and leaves me stranded, trying to sleep. Hmmm, perhaps we should do our devotions earlier in the evening so my mind can calm down by night? Then maybe I'll enter into 'rest'? Something more to think about... :)