You spend two hours on a highway. All you need is to stretch your legs or go to the Jane (or John). Then you come to a surprise! That’s what happened on this day…

After our Hokkaido Tour, our guide, Rie-san (right)  and driver, Seki-san (left)

ended our Furano/ Biei tour to get back to Sapporo, we made a short stop.

The rest area was so pretty with lavender-colored flowers, a fitting welcome and goodbye before and after our visit to Japan’s renowned lavender region. It was a nice sendoff back to the usual world specially since much of the lavender were still up-and-coming during our visit.

The setup here to visit the john is not just utilitarian without-a-care, bahala-ka-sa-buhay-mo type of facility but it was with thoughtful planning, constructing, and maintaining this place which also comes with a souvenir shop, and some delicious takeout food. As a rest area, it becomes conducive to feeling refreshed and happy so you can feel rested after the long drive to get here before taking the long drive back to home base.

Speaking of rest, the Lord talks about us needing to choose to enter into rest. He himself rested on the seventh day from all his work.

[Here is a post from an interview with Rev. Tony Yeo on practical ways to apply the Sabbath rest:  3A’s on Sabbath Days.]

Hebrews 4:9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

There is also the resting from works (not by works) in the sense that Jesus finished the work on the cross and we can choose to enter into this rest by depending on what Jesus did instead of thinking that any good works we do will be the way to earn heaven. Those good deeds we think can make us surpass the requirements for heaven (lampas na sa langit), God considers as “filthy rags” (because if righteousness could be gained through [obeying] the law, Christ died for nothing!”  It’s because God knows that we are not righteous and incapable of saving ourselves and need a Savior to do the saving of us that’s why He made the way for us to be saved but we have the choice to believe.

“This cessation from works as a basis for righteousness fulfills our “Sabbath rest.” God rested from His works on the original Sabbath of Genesis 2:2 because the work was finished. We cease from self-justifying works because the work is finished by Jesus on the cross.” – David Guzik