Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Friday, 29 September 2017 "The Rhythm of Life" by Ian Robinson - Leviticus 25:1-12

Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Friday, 29 September 2017 "The Rhythm of Life" by Ian Robinson - Leviticus 25:1-12
Leviticus 25:1 Adonai spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai; he said, 2 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When you enter the land I am giving you, the land itself is to observe a Shabbat rest for Adonai. 3 Six years you will sow your field; six years you will prune your grapevines and gather their produce. 4 But in the seventh year is to be a Shabbat of complete rest for the land, a Shabbat for Adonai; you will neither sow your field nor prune your grapevines. 5 You are not to harvest what grows by itself from the seeds left by your previous harvest, and you are not to gather the grapes of your untended vine; it is to be a year of complete rest for the land. 6 But what the land produces during the year of Shabbat will be food for all of you — you, your servant, your maid, your employee, anyone living near you, 7 your livestock and the wild animals on your land; everything the land produces may be used for food.
8 “‘You are to count seven Shabbats of years, seven times seven years, that is, forty-nine years. 9 Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, on Yom-Kippur, you are to sound a blast on the shofar; you are to sound the shofar all through your land; 10 and you are to consecrate the fiftieth year, proclaiming freedom throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a yovel for you; you will return everyone to the land he owns, and everyone is to return to his family. 11 That fiftieth year will be a yovel for you; in that year you are not to sow, harvest what grows by itself or gather the grapes of untended vines; 12 because it is a yovel. It will be holy for you; whatever the fields produce will be food for all of you.
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Several fascinating studies on “circaseptan” (“about seven” or weekly) rhythms have revealed that nature revolves around a seven-day cycle. Everything needs to rest every seven days. Humans experience a drop in energy levels on the seventh day. Plants and animals experience similar rhythms. As they make their discoveries, scientists are surprised, while we just point to the Bible and say, “God told you so.”
Just as God understands our need for rest, He extends this principle to the land as well. Every seventh year, Israel was not to plant anything nor harvest whatever grew without their cultivation. However, they were permitted to eat it, and, more importantly, share this serendipitous bounty, the result of leftover seed from the previous year, with their servants, hired workers, and any foreigners living among them.
In Isaiah 58, God said He would abundantly bless those who help the poor, the needy, and the oppressed. The rhythm of life is a powerful God-given beat.
Hymn for Today:

"Near to the Heart of God" by Cleland B. McAfee
1. There is a place of quiet rest,
near to the heart of God,
a place where sin cannot molest,
near to the heart of God.
Refrain: O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
sent from the heart of God,
hold us, who wait before thee,
near to the heart of God.
2. There is a place of comfort sweet,
near to the heart of God,
a place where we our Savior meet,
near to the heart of God.
Refrain: O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
sent from the heart of God,
hold us, who wait before thee,
near to the heart of God.
3. There is a place of full release,
near to the heart of God,
a place where all is joy and peace,
near to the heart of God.
Refrain: O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
sent from the heart of God,
hold us, who wait before thee,
near to the heart of God.
Thought for Today:
Adonai will always guide you;
he will satisfy your needs in the desert,
he will renew the strength in your limbs;
so that you will be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails. (Isaiah 58:11}
Please pray:
For the development of Christian leaders in Guyana.
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