…but the greatest of these is love (I Corinthians 13:13 ESV)
Rest and Love
We think we improve on the idea of love by adding the descriptor, “forever.” When we are attempting to be romantic, intense, or loyal, we often feel the need to say, not only, “I love you,” but, “I love you FOREVER.”
When we say that, it might display that we are not thinking about the Jesus-kind-of-love at all. And His kind of love is the only kind of love.
Similarly, we add words like unconditional, selfless, and true to ‘love’ as if love could exist without those adjectives. But love is always unconditional, selfless, true, and eternal or it is not love. Love without those things might be nice, it might be realistic, it might be present… but it is not love.
Love does not stop. It does not wear out. It does not ever rest. That is one of the reasons Paul chooses love as the greatest of all.
In that place, time, and presence of Jesus that we call heaven, we will be loved and will still love. We will have rest from sin and sin’s effects, but not from love. We will have rest from sorrows and tears, but not from love. We will have rest from chaos and fear, but not from love.
Love never ends. (I Corinthians 13:8)
We will not need Faith in that time of rest, because what we believe in will be right in front of us. We will not need Hope in that time of rest, because all promises will be obviously fulfilled.
It is not really accurate, though to say that we will need love in heaven.
We GET have love in heaven. Forever.
Heaven’s rest is love in the presence of Jesus. Both being loved and loving.
And we get to practice it now. Jesus summarized the law with the command to love. (Matthew 22:37-39) Heavenly rest can get brought into our daily lives best NOT by sleeping, taking a break, and relaxing (although those things are grand gifts from God, too!) but by Love.
Both through being aware of God’s love… and by choosing to love.
Love is the best rest.
Take the love God grants us.