A Sabbath year

A few months ago I was in my chiropractor's office. We were discussing where my pain was, and he was adjusting me. "You are more out of alignment than you think," he said. And I cannot remember what comment he made that caused me to reply, "I don't like to relax."

Sometimes the Spirit catches my words, engraves them on a plaque, and hangs them in my mind. "I don't like to relax." What a terrible thing to hang on a wall, as company sits on your sofa and thinks, "That's odd." I didn't say that I enjoy working. I didn't say that I am not good at relaxing. I said that I don't like to relax.

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 sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fileds or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest grapes of your untended vines. The land is to haev a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you--for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. (Leviticus 25:3-7)

Did you read the long quote or skip over it? I'm very good at skipping over Bible passages when I'm reading. Because I'm familiar with the word, I can get what's being said. I'm more productive that way.

Notice that in the Sabbath year, people didn't work to provide food for their families. People didn't work to build the ministries of their church. People didn't work to improve their homes, or advance their careers, or secure their futures. They rested, in order to honor God, who commanded them to rest. The Lord set the pattern for rest in the very foundation of creation: "Then 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 2:3).

The Israelites were eventually taken in captivity, away from the Promised Land. The Lord predicts the disobedience of His people even in Leviticus, as He gives the law:

I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it. (Leviticus 26:33-35)

The land will have its rest. The question is, are you going to work with God or against Him?

The Lord speaks a lot about giving and rest. I don't think either one is instinctive. When done in the way He asks, it requires something deep within us to change, to conform to His will. He is honored in our living sacrifice of giving and resting.

I once heard that the Sabbath observed by the Jews in the time of Helenization and later Roman occupation was in stark contrast to "the pagan work ethic" around them. All good pagans know there is work to be done. And you have to keep your nose to the grindstone to avoid falling behind. Jews, however, did this weird thing called "Sabbath" where they stopped working for an entire day, every week. They didn't cook or travel or party. They just rested. It was their way of honoring their God, who provided for all their needs. Crazy Jews. Not very productive.

My internal speedometer, during the time I worked outside of my home, became set very high, maybe 90mph. And now that I am not working, I still rev internally. I am asking God to reset my spirit to a different speed. This calendar year, I am resting. Not because I like to or want to, but out of obedience. It is not easy or natural for me. It is not a relief to finally get to slow down. It is hard work. Resting is not simply distracting yourself until you are let out of the shute. It is not planning and scheming what you will do next year. It's just resting.

There are some days that I fail, and I am grateful that God is merciful, and He has given me an entire year for this endeavor. I remember one time when my husband and I participated in a 40-day Daniel fast. You learn some lessons the first week. Some you don't grasp until the last. Sometimes you feel like you've learned nothing, but the fruit is born out in your life in the months to come because you set aside that time to show honor to God.

For my dear friends who wonder, what does this mean, what should we do, the answer is please chill. I am only sharing this because I earnestly desire for you to follow the Spirit in your own life. The responsibility of holding Sabbath is my own. What is your season? What is the Lord asking of you?