Rest for Christians is to have full reliance and confidence in what God promises. Rest comes by total surrender to His will and we can look forward to His rest in heaven.
We have been taught about the "Good News" of salvation through Christ. We know that faith and belief in it will open the doors and rest of heaven only to those who believe. We are warned to not let our hearts be hardened toward the Good News and God, thus leading us into disobedience, for if we do, we will experience the same results as Israel and not enter that place of rest that He has prepared for those who believe.
Should we waiver or find ourselves being disobedient, we can rely of the Word of God, the Scriptures. We are told over and over again about the power, truth and guidance given to us in the scriptures. No matter what our condition, the power of the Word reaches deep down into our very bones and impacts our heart's intentions. The Word exposes our deepest thoughts and motivations and inner most parts of our very soul.
We can hide nothing from God, He sees and knows it all. We may try to hide the truth of what we think, desire and do from ourselves, but there is no way such things are hidden from Him. We are accountable to none but God Himself. As I read this part of Hebrews, it reminds me of Matthew 10:28.(NAS) "Don't be afraid of those that kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both the body and soul in hell." Why worry about the things of this life that might cause us pain. Why let such things cause us to act in ways that we shouldn't because we are afraid of what they can do to us. God is more powerful than anyone or anything. Sure there are things and people that can harm us but none have the power, not only over our lives but also our soul. Look to God for the direction of our lives, work to please Him, look to Him for protection and help.
We are accountable before God but are not to be afraid for we have been given Christ. Remember in chapter 2 verse 14; we are human beings, made of flesh and blood and being such, Jesus became the same, died and was resurrected in order to break the power of the devil who had the power of death. Jesus is that High Priest who offers intercession for us, for we have all fallen short of what is required to find His rest by our own actions. Jesus knows our struggles because He lived here with us. He dealt with the same testings, trials, hardships, hatred and pain as we do. Yet He was sinless. Because of Him, that hope remains alive in all who believe for Jesus makes that rest available to all believers.
Do not be afraid to come before God and the throne of grace asking for help and forgiveness for our sinfulness, boldly proclaiming our faith in Christ as Lord and Savior.
Because of Jesus' great sacrifice and gift, we can come before the throne and receive mercy and grace in our greatest times of need. Because of what Christ has done and because of our faith in Him, we will never be turned away. No sin, no wrong doing will ever be too big to not be covered by His sacrifice. We can rest in that truth.