Leviticus 23:23-25
The Lord told Moses to say to the people of Israel:
The
first day of the seventh month must be a day of complete rest. Then at
the sound of the trumpets, you will come together to worship and to
offer sacrifices on the altar.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
One
September morning, the mother of one of my students came into my
classroom and told me that her son would be absent from class for a few
days later that week. The family would be celebrating their church’s
“Feast of the Trumpets”. I will admit, I had never heard of this…but it
was obviously a big deal to this family and their fellow church members
in the Church of God – a Christian denomination. If you read all of
Leviticus 23, you will see that there are several “Bible feasts” and
celebrations throughout the year that were to be observed with certain
rituals, foods, and periods of rest from all labors…and this student’s
family attended many of them.
The “Feast of the Trumpets” is
commonly known today as the Jewish New Year – or Rosh Hashanah.
However, some Christian denominations still celebrate this and other
“Bible feasts” marked in Leviticus 23. I honestly do not know what
these entail fully…or whether celebrants literally forego all work
during each of these celebrations. But the Apostle Paul referenced
these events in Colossians 2:16-27…referring to them as a foreshadowing
of the coming of Christ. To paraphrase Paul…”Jesus is real and here
with us…we don’t necessarily need to celebrate these rituals now.”
Do
not misunderstand me. This doesn’t mean that we Christians shouldn’t
have rituals, ceremonies and celebrations. I believe that these events
serve to enhance our faith and fellowship…and often cause us to focus
more specifically on Jesus and our relationship with Him. My particular
denomination does not celebrate all of these “Feasts of the Bible”, but
we do participate in Sunday worship services, Holy Communion, Advent,
Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and other Easter week services, to name a
few.
The thing that struck me as I read the verses of
Leviticus 23 was that the Old Testament Jews were pretty busy observing
these festivals! During each one of these events, everyone was expected
to stop all work and participate…and/or rest – and sometimes abstain
from eating! Can you imagine us doing this today? “People weren’t as
busy back then,” you may say. Really? Do you honestly think that the
workload was lighter in a time without electricity, running water,
motorized vehicles, computers, telephones, home appliances, and other
modern conveniences we all take for granted? Yet these faithful people
stopped what they were doing and rested…they made these celebrations to
honor God a priority.
I wonder…do we make God a priority? Do we
shift gears and set aside time to “rest in the LORD”? I’m not
necessarily talking about literal, physical “rest”…I’m talking about
something far more refreshing and renewing. I’ll be the first to tell
you that I don’t always make time to attend such services at my church
as Ash Wednesday or Maundy Thursday. But when I do attend such a time
of worship, I always come away profoundly affected…feeling closer to
God…more “centered” in my faith. The time that I spend in Bible study
and working on these daily devotionals is precious to me and helps me to
align my thoughts and my focus for the day. When I take extended time
to talk with God…to sit and listen for His voice…I am refreshed and
energized - as if I had taken a two-hour nap! These “rests” often help
me “get my head on straight”!
It amazes me that in spite of all
of our technological advances, we seem to have become busier than ever!
I still cannot get over how people can’t seem to pry themselves from a
hand-held device long enough to share a meal with family or friends,
watch their children participate in some activity…or have a genuine
conversation with another human being. And this has more than carried
over into our spiritual life. We’ve become so caught up in the
“busyness” of life that we no longer have time to rest and celebrate
Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him!
I’m not suggesting
that we go back to the Old Testament rituals found in Leviticus…or that
we completely rearrange our schedules to accommodate extended periods of
worship, Bible study and prayer. I fully realize that we cannot always
attend every event held at our church…or stop everything to sit for an
hour in prayer and Bible study. But I do think there is room for us to
seek a happy medium…a compromise of sorts (and that seems a silly word
to use when we talk about Jesus!)… a way to incorporate periods of
celebration, worship, rest and renewal in the LORD into our everyday
lives.
Jesus IS alive and real…and here with us. Are we
stopping long enough to acknowledge His presence? How long has it been
since you really “rested” with Him?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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