I wrote this column several months ago upon our return from Ouray. Since I've shared photos from our vacation, I share these thoughts as well.
Our
family just returned from five days of camping in the rugged San Juan Mountains
in southwestern Colorado. If you’re
looking for a vacation recommendation, here’s one: campsite #64 at Ridgway State
Park. It boasts a beautiful view and a footpath
that leads to a little inlet of a turquoise mountain reservoir. Ouray is a nestled in a valley just a short
drive away. We swam in the hot spring
there, hiked the short trail to the rushing Box Canyon falls, and braved a jeep
tour that took us to basins and passes so remote they’re populated only by
waterfalls and wildflowers. Like Ouray,
nearby Telluride is as rich in history as the silver and gold mined there. A continuous stream of gondolas climbs to the
top of the mountains that tower above the town, offering an entertaining free
ride and a breath-taking view. Black
Canyon of the Gunnison National Park lies a short hour north of the campground
– the canyon is so named because it’s so narrow and steep that it’s walls are
usually shadowed, making them appear black.
I’d be remiss if I failed to mention the sky: we watched the Perseid
meteor shower in a night sky that’s so clear and vast the misty arc of Milky
Way seemed closer than the trail of smoke from our own campfire. And all of this at the end of a 6-hour drive
that crosses the Continental Divide and had me snapping my camera’s shutter the
entire way.
The week was so lovely it seemed
almost magical to me, and when it came to an end, not one of us wanted to
leave. It was restful – as restful as
camping can be when it involves six young children – and in a part of the
country so magnificent I had never even imagined it. The week was a gift – undeserved but
lovingly bestowed by our graciously heavenly Father. It was a week that made my heart overflow
with gratitude. It was a week that made
me think about heaven, and about the rest that remains for the people of God.
It’s Sunday evening as I write
this. Sunday, the New Testament Sabbath:
the day of rest. The notion of keeping
the Sabbath day holy is more and more unpopular these days, even among Christians. Instead, Sunday is a day that most fill with
their own pleasures or pursuits. I tend
to gauge my days by how much I’m able to accomplish: the more things I check
off my to-do list, the better I feel about the day. But the Sabbath day is the day on which I’m
reminded that there’s no to-do list when it comes to my salvation. None of my works can or will save me from the
punishment I deserve. But praise God,
the work is as my Savior said when he hung on the cross: “Finished!” That’s the same Savior who cries, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”
(Matt. 11:28).
What rest does Jesus give? Rest for the soul. Peace with God, no matter what storms rage
about us. Freedom from sin.
That
rest is limited. Only “we which have
believed do enter into rest” (Heb. 4:3).
It’s a rest that’s not yet complete, and it’s a rest that, though it doesn’t
depend on our work, still involves spiritual labor. I spent two days preparing food and packing
for our camping trip. Similarly,
entering into the rest of heaven requires difficult spiritual labor and discipline. We enter that rest when we engage in the hard work of Bible study, prayer, ministering to the needy, and
faithfully witnessing of the gospel of our Lord Jesus. “Let
us labor therefore to enter into that rest” (Heb. 4:11).
The rest that remains for the people of God will be fully realized in
heaven. “And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, ‘Write, Blessed are
the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea,’ saith the Spirit, ‘that
they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them’” (Rev.
14:13). That rest will be in a place
more beautiful than any here on earth, a place you and I can’t even begin to
imagine.
And it’s a rest we will never have to leave.
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