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
Showing posts with label relaxing and resting to renew our spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label relaxing and resting to renew our spirit. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for May 31, 2014
Exodus 23:12
“Work six days only, and rest the seventh; this is to give your oxen and donkeys a rest, as well as the people of your household—your slaves and visitors."
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Recently I joined a water aerobics class at our community’s Aquatic Center. The class met Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at eight o’clock. Anyone who knows me very well knows that especially in recent years, I am anything BUT a morning person. 9:00 a.m. is EARLY for me! So making the commitment to be “up and at ‘em” - and ready to get into a pool of chilly water at 8:00 a.m. - was really a stretch for me. But I did it - for a few weeks. I’m also something of a “night owl”. Try as I might to get to bed earlier, I found myself thinking, “I’ll try to fit in an afternoon nap,” or “I’ll make up for lost sleep on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings.” But my body began to adjust to the early morning wake-up time, and I found myself unable to sleep an extra hour or two on those “days off” from swimming!
I finally realized that this class was just not working for me…for a number of reasons. I made a few trips to the pool to work out on my own – at later daytime hours – and I found that I was a much happier camper. So I opted to drop the class and commit to an individual workout program at a more convenient time. In doing so, I discovered just how tired I had become, when one evening last week I could not hold my eyes open for very long past the 8:00 hour! I went to bed early – and slept LATE the next morning. Clearly, I was in need of some rest! And that’s what this scripture in Exodus seems to be reminding us today…that rest is important – for everyone!
Now believe me, I know that there are extenuating circumstances. As the sole employees of a small business, Greg and I used to work at least several hours of EVERY single day…and we did this for eighteen years. There was always work to be done, and we were the only ones who could do much of it! So we worked through holidays, anniversaries, weekends and much more. And yes, we grew weary. As much as this is often unavoidable in many situations, I think we need to listen to God’s admonition to rest when and where we can.
I’m not suggesting that we all become slackers. There is a delicate balance to maintain. But so many of us have filled every minute of our day with some kind of activity, and we have made these far more important than just taking time to sit, rest, relax, breathe in and out, maybe say a prayer or two, and simply renew our minds and our souls. In other words, a lot of us need to clear out the clutter! I’d say that if you cannot find a way to rest every six days or so – at least for a part of the day – this scripture applies to you! There may be a season of extenuating circumstances. You may be caring for someone who is ill, or working on a major project for several weeks. But over the long haul, everyone needs to make sure that they get enough rest…and this is ordained by GOD!
Today as I worked out at the pool, I watched two young children who were playing in the shallow end…apparently a brother and sister. Two women who I surmised to be their mother and grandmother settled into chairs along the wall of windows. The younger woman took out her phone and began to scroll through messages or something. The older woman read a flyer. A man arrived who must have been the children’s dad. He settled himself in the corner of the room farthest from the pool, opened up a laptop, and got busy reading and typing. He barely looked up from his computer screen. The children laughed and giggled and did “tricks”…and kept looking toward the adults to see if they had noticed. They had not. They would smile at me as if, “Wasn’t that a neat trick?” and I would smile back. But it seemed like they wanted the adults who were with them to pay attention and smile, too…even though they never said, “Watch this!” or asked for their notice.
I felt sad as I observed this…that these three adults could not stop for an hour and just “rest” in the moment with their kids. I had seen this same scenario play out a few days earlier as a grandmother brought a little girl to swim. The little girl DID ask for attention…and her grandmother finally put down her copy of The National Enquirer. As I left the pool, the woman struck up a conversation with me and volunteered that she has been keeping grandchildren for a few weeks now, and she was tired. She told me that she had stopped and picked up this tabloid (to the tune of $5) to read while her granddaughter swam. I tried not to judge, but a voice in my head said, “Children and grandbabies grow up overnight – and no longer want to be seen with parents and grandparents...much less ask for their attention while they swim or play.”
Parents and grandparents grow old and are gone, and we wish we had spent a little more time with them…asked more questions…shown more respect. Relationships fall apart when one person or the other is too busy, too tired, or too caught up in trying to do more than is humanly possible. Employees become disgruntled when we work them to death. Friends and family members grow distant when we expect too much of them. Ministries become ineffective when those who are involved become overworked or burned out. Even Jesus and His disciples took time to rest!
In short, God ordained rest because He knows we need it! When was the last time you cleared out the clutter in your life and truly “rested”? Is it time to evaluate your priorities and make a few adjustments? Will this be the day that you begin?
©2014 Debbie Robus
“Work six days only, and rest the seventh; this is to give your oxen and donkeys a rest, as well as the people of your household—your slaves and visitors."
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Recently I joined a water aerobics class at our community’s Aquatic Center. The class met Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at eight o’clock. Anyone who knows me very well knows that especially in recent years, I am anything BUT a morning person. 9:00 a.m. is EARLY for me! So making the commitment to be “up and at ‘em” - and ready to get into a pool of chilly water at 8:00 a.m. - was really a stretch for me. But I did it - for a few weeks. I’m also something of a “night owl”. Try as I might to get to bed earlier, I found myself thinking, “I’ll try to fit in an afternoon nap,” or “I’ll make up for lost sleep on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings.” But my body began to adjust to the early morning wake-up time, and I found myself unable to sleep an extra hour or two on those “days off” from swimming!
I finally realized that this class was just not working for me…for a number of reasons. I made a few trips to the pool to work out on my own – at later daytime hours – and I found that I was a much happier camper. So I opted to drop the class and commit to an individual workout program at a more convenient time. In doing so, I discovered just how tired I had become, when one evening last week I could not hold my eyes open for very long past the 8:00 hour! I went to bed early – and slept LATE the next morning. Clearly, I was in need of some rest! And that’s what this scripture in Exodus seems to be reminding us today…that rest is important – for everyone!
Now believe me, I know that there are extenuating circumstances. As the sole employees of a small business, Greg and I used to work at least several hours of EVERY single day…and we did this for eighteen years. There was always work to be done, and we were the only ones who could do much of it! So we worked through holidays, anniversaries, weekends and much more. And yes, we grew weary. As much as this is often unavoidable in many situations, I think we need to listen to God’s admonition to rest when and where we can.
I’m not suggesting that we all become slackers. There is a delicate balance to maintain. But so many of us have filled every minute of our day with some kind of activity, and we have made these far more important than just taking time to sit, rest, relax, breathe in and out, maybe say a prayer or two, and simply renew our minds and our souls. In other words, a lot of us need to clear out the clutter! I’d say that if you cannot find a way to rest every six days or so – at least for a part of the day – this scripture applies to you! There may be a season of extenuating circumstances. You may be caring for someone who is ill, or working on a major project for several weeks. But over the long haul, everyone needs to make sure that they get enough rest…and this is ordained by GOD!
Today as I worked out at the pool, I watched two young children who were playing in the shallow end…apparently a brother and sister. Two women who I surmised to be their mother and grandmother settled into chairs along the wall of windows. The younger woman took out her phone and began to scroll through messages or something. The older woman read a flyer. A man arrived who must have been the children’s dad. He settled himself in the corner of the room farthest from the pool, opened up a laptop, and got busy reading and typing. He barely looked up from his computer screen. The children laughed and giggled and did “tricks”…and kept looking toward the adults to see if they had noticed. They had not. They would smile at me as if, “Wasn’t that a neat trick?” and I would smile back. But it seemed like they wanted the adults who were with them to pay attention and smile, too…even though they never said, “Watch this!” or asked for their notice.
I felt sad as I observed this…that these three adults could not stop for an hour and just “rest” in the moment with their kids. I had seen this same scenario play out a few days earlier as a grandmother brought a little girl to swim. The little girl DID ask for attention…and her grandmother finally put down her copy of The National Enquirer. As I left the pool, the woman struck up a conversation with me and volunteered that she has been keeping grandchildren for a few weeks now, and she was tired. She told me that she had stopped and picked up this tabloid (to the tune of $5) to read while her granddaughter swam. I tried not to judge, but a voice in my head said, “Children and grandbabies grow up overnight – and no longer want to be seen with parents and grandparents...much less ask for their attention while they swim or play.”
Parents and grandparents grow old and are gone, and we wish we had spent a little more time with them…asked more questions…shown more respect. Relationships fall apart when one person or the other is too busy, too tired, or too caught up in trying to do more than is humanly possible. Employees become disgruntled when we work them to death. Friends and family members grow distant when we expect too much of them. Ministries become ineffective when those who are involved become overworked or burned out. Even Jesus and His disciples took time to rest!
In short, God ordained rest because He knows we need it! When was the last time you cleared out the clutter in your life and truly “rested”? Is it time to evaluate your priorities and make a few adjustments? Will this be the day that you begin?
©2014 Debbie Robus
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)