What does it mean to enter into God’s rest? Our first guess might be that it refers to our state after death when we will be in heaven with God. While that is true on one level, the biblical sense is much deeper. God's rest is a state we can reach even in this life. It describes union with God, awareness of God’s immediate presence, and the absence of any sense of separation or fear. We achieve this rest by walking in faith, hope, and love, and purifying our minds and hearts of all that is not from God. While we probably will not reach God’s rest completely in this life, we can make a good start in that direction. This is evident in the story of the paralytic's healing. His faith-filled friends tore off the roof and lowered him down to Jesus. The Lord forgave his sins and told him to get up and walk, which he did. Many were outraged - only God can forgive sins. But Jesus insisted that healing someone and forgiving their sins was often the same thing - and he did have authority to do both. The paralytic’s life (we don’t know the details) obviously had something to do with his illness. It is not a matter of God’s punishment. Medical science confirms that there is a powerful link between the mind and the body. When we are out of harmony with the Divine Source, our bodies often suffer. Improving our spiritual health can often have the same effect on our physical well-being. Each day we can begin cleansing our thoughts, words, and actions of all that is negative and contrary to God.