Leviticus 23:3 “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD.’”
Many people today have a hard time resting, not doing their regular jobs. The cell phone ties them to their jobs and the needs of the company for which they work. And looking at I4, the interstate that crosses central Florida East to West, and noting the number of RV sales lots, I guess that is what people do for rest.
And yet, so many of these just sit in a driveway or side yard. That is because they have to work harder to make the monthly payments! So the very thing that was supposed to give them the opportunity for rest, has become one of the many things that drive them away from rest.
The LORD wants His people to yield their calendars to His will. The present chapter in the book of Leviticus certainly puts constraints on our weekly and yearly calendars. The LORD wants the right of first refusal when it comes to our calendar. He wants to have first priority in our days on this earth.
So as the LORD is teaching His people how to live, to separate themselves from the inhabitants of the land into which they are going to live, the LORD wants His appointments to be permanent, yearly and weekly events. Nothing is to push them off our calendars. This yielding of the calendar was part of what made them holy, and the LORD is holy. They were set apart, different that the other nations, and their calendars reflected that difference.
The most frequent appointment was a weekly “Sabbath”, which means “seven”. Part of that seventh day includes having a “sacred assembly”, a time when the whole community is to get together to remember the LORD’s history with them, a history of salvation and deliverance, and to build community in a hostile world. If ever we needed to gather together, it is now!
And the other part of this seventh day is that we don’t do any “regular work”, the work that occupies the other six days a week. This other activity includes the work we do to earn a living. We set aside the daily tasks of survival and rest. This is not just time to kick back in the recliner, but time to invest in each other without the hustle and bustle of staying alive.
But really setting aside a day to not earn a living sounds pretty radical these days. Even with the push for four day weeks, actually setting aside a day is fairly difficult to do.
And that is the point! If we follow the LORD, He has promised to provide for our needs. So taking a day of rest, a day without the ‘earning a living’ tasks, we are demonstrating our trust in Him. We are in essence saying this: “LORD, I trust you to make my six days productive enough to provide for my needs.” And it became a mark of separateness for the Israelites.
So gather together this week in celebration of the history of the LORD in the lives of His people. Trust the LORD to provide for you and your family by not doing your income producing work on your day off. And last of all, rest. Rest in Him. Allow Him to be your shelter and refuge in this stormy season of life.
The Arnold Journey 