Rest for the Land

 thethomasicecollection.com 

January- Rest, Refresh

“The Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year, the land is to have a year of rest.” Leviticus 25:1-5 (NIV)

            God established Sabbath years for the land He gave to His people. In this instance, the Hebrew people did not follow God’s direction. God told them to do as He said forever. It took them going into exile for 70 years before they got the message and instituted the practice. I found it interesting God told the Israelites this early on in their time in the land He promised them.

            In Leviticus 26:32-38 God tells the people, in detail, what they will go through if they fail to observe the Sabbath years for the land. God outlines what He has to do in order to teach them the lessons He has for them.

•           He will lay waste to their land.

•           He will scatter His children among other nations.

•           He will draw His sword and pursue them.

•           Their cities will lie in ruins.

•           THEN the land will enjoy its Sabbath years all the time the people are in exile.

•           Those who are left in the land will be extremely fearful.

•           The Israelites will not be able to stand before their enemies.

•           The Israelites will perish in the foreign lands.

•           The land of the enemies will devour the Israelites.

•           Those who survive will waste away because of their sins or those of their fathers.

This is not a pretty picture. But God felt it was necessary to do in order to teach His children obedience to His instructions.

We as His children need to learn to obey God, even when it comes to finding time to rest and refresh our bodies, minds, and hearts.

Celebrating What God Has Given

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January—Rest, Refreshing

“So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of rest and the eighth day is also a day of rest.” Leviticus. 23:39-40 (NIV)

            The Lord God institutes the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles. The Israelites were to pick choice fruits from the trees and give thanks, rejoicing before God for seven days. I find it interesting that God told them to rest on day one of the feast, and on the first day after the festival. ALL those born in Israel were to participate in this celebration.

            This festival was to remind the Israelite people that their ancestors had lived in tents and temporary houses during their wilderness wanderings. It seems the Israelite people, much like people of today, forgot their heritage and the stories of how they came to be where they were. This was to be a lasting ordinance.

            As we opened our Christmas gifts, my husband emptied his stocking and found a big orange in the toe. Our son found one in his as well. He had told me a story about his childhood and getting fruit and a few peanuts in one of his the socks that his dad had hung up for him and his sister. Back then, some people didn’t get very much more than that on Christmas. Hubby related that story to our son.

            The first Christmas I was on my own, I wanted a Christmas tree but I knew I didn’t have money for ornaments. I had the idea of using candy canes and those red stick-in bows on the branches. Some years, I remind myself of that time in my life by purchasing those boxes of a dozen candy canes and giving them to people. When I worked at a library, I gave one cane to each child I waited on. (I asked them to wait until they got home to eat them. But some had their own way of doing things.) This past year, I hung some on our stockings and then on my little tree.  I need to tell others my story about this custom.

            Like the Israelites, we modern people either go through the acts involved with a holiday, remembering why we do them, or we choose to do it but not remember the history at all. But the important issue is that we are rest, remember, and give thanks to the LORD.

God’s Commands abouts the Manna

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January—Rest, Refreshing

            “Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, ‘This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’” Exodus 16:21-23(NIV)

            God provides for His children. In this chapter, He provides food daily for the Israelites. Moses gives specific instructions that the people are to follow. They can only gather a certain amount of the flakes—one omer per person in their tent—each day. They have to consume each day’s gatherings without saving any for the next day. If they disobey and save any, it would develop bugs and acquire a bad smell.

            On the sixth day, Moses tells them to gather twice as much—two omers for each person.  They can fix it any way they chose but they have to save some for use on the seventh day because it was a Sabbath to the Lord and no manna would appear.

             We who live in our present time might find this passage hard to understand. As we study it, we see God’s provision for His children. We also see how those children disobey and the result of their disobedience. Do we sometimes find it easier to do what we want than to follow God’s guidance and direction? I sometimes I think it is. When I venture off and ‘do my own thing’ I find myself in some trouble with the Lord. Sometimes it takes me a while to realize I am not listening to God and have to tell Him I am sorry.

            I had a friend who said it this way, “We are not to run ahead of the Lord. Neither are we to walk behind Him. We are to walk with Him.”

When God tells me I need to rest from my activities, I know I need to obey. When I rest in Him, I come away more refreshed than I could imagine.

Rest for Others and Ourselves

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January—Rest, Refreshing

            “The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, Ïf I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may wash your feet and rest under this tree.” Genesis 18:1-4 “(NIV)

            What do we see in this passage? Abraham sits at the entrance to his tent, his home, during the hot part of the day. He sees three travelers as they near his home. He hurries toward them and greets them. He offers to get them some assistance to wash and refresh themselves and to allow them to rest from their journey. When we read further in the scripture passage, Abraham instructs Sarah to make food for the travelers.

            I especially like the end of our focus passage. “Let a little water be brought, and then you may wash your feet and rest under this tree.” Abraham practices basic hospitality here. He even goes so far as to give up his spot under the tree to these three travelers.

            We had friends, both of whom have passed on, who always offered us iced tea, or iced water to drink every time we stopped by. When we went to their house on Christmas Eve, or the night before, she had a spread fit for royalty for us. Even when I went to check on them when one was ailing, someone invited me to sit and rest and partake of refreshment, if I could.

            As children of God, we need to learn that we are not indestructible and that it is imperative that we learn the art of rest, relaxation, and refreshing ourselves and others.

God Rested From His Labors

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January—Rest, Refreshing

     “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day, he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because, on it, he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Genesis 2:1-3 (NIV)

            God instituted the practice of rest from our work. This is evident in our focus verse. The writer of Genesis, thought to be Moses, went to great lengths to explain God’s reasons for choosing to rest after his work is done.

            I once heard a sermon on why we need to rest. Simply put, we run out of steam. As human beings, we can only go so long without depleting ourselves of energy. Doctors sometimes give people with certain medical issues the orders for bed-rest. A friend has a daughter who is pregnant. The daughter had complications that caused her doctor to prescribe bed rest. A woman, also pregnant, at our church has been given the same medical orders.

            When I received my first computer, I noticed one of the bloggers I read practiced a “cyber-Sabbath,” refraining from working on her computer on Sunday to spend time with her family. I try to follow her example. I recently read on another blog that we should take scheduled ‘blog breaks’ to keep fresh with our writing. By that, the blogger meant that, by doing this, writing stays something we enjoy doing not something we feel we have to do.

            Clergy persons, receive encouragement to have a day off from their duties in order for them to regroup and refresh their minds and their bodies. Some choose a weekday as their day of rest and receive encouragement to abide by their choice whenever they can. 

            For further scriptural reading go to Exodus 20:8-11. Focus on verse 10. It explains the reason why we should have a regular time of rest in our lives.


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Happy New Year to each of you. My family had a nice Christmas. I look forward to completing some projects, writing and otherwise this year. 

A Fun Post with Christmas Flavor

This is my little Christmas tree. It was my paternal great-grandmother's library table. I believe it is a Duncan Fyfe product. It was in our home when I was growing up.  It is on white (I believe, ivory) rollers.

Last year I was released from the rehabilitation center (nursing home) on December 22. My husband had decorated the living room. He covered out coffee table with wrapping paper. It looked good. We decided to do it again this year. I have a ceramic statue of the Holy Family and an old blue butter dish on one end of the table top. I use it sometimes as a candy dish. I made a fruit stack in a compote dish for the other end of the table, Merry Christmas to all. I will be taking a break until January 2, 2017.

Jesus, our Mainstay

 

December- Messiah

                     

                       

                        “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:5

           

 As children of God, we learn that Jesus upholds us as we go through the ordeals of life. This is something we learn mostly by experience. It seems that those trying times come our way in order to make us stronger in our faith.

 Some friends of mine have learned this quality of Jesus in very personal ways. A woman goes in for joint replacement surgery that went awry. She was in and out of the hospitals for slightly over a year. In the process, she had to change doctors and hospitals in order to get through her ordeal. For her and her family, Jesus was their mainstay.

 Another friend has a daughter who is pregnant. The daughter has had some difficult issues with carrying her son. God has been with this friend as she tries to be there for her daughter and unborn grandson. Lots of prayers have gone up for this daughter and her husband as they await the arrival of their son.

 When our son lived in Kansas, one summer he chose to camp in Rocky Mountain National Park on his vacation. On the day he arrived, a forest fire started in one part of the park. Hubby was worried. I was concerned for our son and for my hubby. Prayers of God’s people went up for our son. God kept him safe. God brought us through that time.

   I know several couples where one is seriously ill: a wife, mother, and grandmother who is a stroke victim, another wife, and mother requiring dialysis three times a week. In both of these families, the husband has been there to care for the wife as he can with some supplemental help. I remember a neighbor who took care of his wife for ten years, nine and a half of those years not knowing the name of what caused her to be ill. In each of these instances, Jesus has been their mainstay.

           

 Twenty years ago when my dad received a cancer diagnosis right after Thanksgiving. I could not think about Christmas coming in one month. I was puzzled about all the preparations people seemed to be making. Had it not been for my church family and their prayers, I don’t believe I would have been able to get through that time. Jesus was my mainstay.

 What I am trying to say is that Jesus, our Messiah stands by us during those hard and distasteful times of our lives.  Because of our humanity, we sometimes forget that He is in control. We also forget that He stands with us as we face trying times.

            As I sit here making this input, I realize God has all things in His hands. The book we are studying in Sunday school,”Think, Act, Be(lieve) Like Jesus,”: has a section made up of short chapters on the Fruit of the Spirit. I have read ahead. In the chapter entitled Self-Control the author says something that I had never thought about. Self-control for a Christian is God-control. Having been under the weather (read sick) all of this advent season, I have had time to think deeply about godly things, especially about this issue of God’s control of my life.

  The Messiah came in order that we might live in freedom from our sins. He came to save us and to heal us from our diseases. 

            I have heard it said that we should observe Christmas all year round. By this, I have come to realize that we should honor Jesus by how we live every day.