Do You Trust Me?
Scripture: Leviticus 25:2-6, 19-20
"When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. 3 For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, 4 but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. 5 And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. The land must have a year of complete rest. 6 But you may eat whatever the land produces on its own during its Sabbath...19 Then the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it. 20 But you might ask, ‘What will we eat during the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year?’ 21 Be assured that I will send my blessing for you in the sixth year, so the land will produce a crop large enough for three years. 22 When you plant your fields in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the large crop of the sixth year. In fact, you will still be eating from that large crop when the new crop is harvested in the ninth year."
Observations:
As God prepared His people to inherit the Promise Land and all of the blessings that came with it, He first gave them some basic instructions concerning how they were to manage it when they got there by outlining some basic principles about how they were to harvest their crops. Every seventh year they were forbidden to plant anything in order to give the land an opportunity to rest and replentish itself. The only challenge for the Israelites was whether or not they would choose to trust God to be their provider or whether they would take matters into their own hands and ignore God's instructions. But along with the command to obey God also came a tremendous promise- if they would forgo planting crops in the seventh year, God promised to bless them with 3 years worth of harvest in advance! In the end, by simply obeying God's command not to trust only in what they could provide for themselves God would see to it that they actually ended up with more than double what they would have had if they just kept working as usual. But in order to see God's promise fulfilled it required them to trust God like never before. But by trusting God in this way they were also recognizing that it was God, not the Promise Land, that was ultimately their source.
Application:
It's often tempting for us to feel like we don't really have much of a choice when it comes to relying upon God because we can always come up with so many "good" excuses why it's just not a good idea. Sometimes it's hard to give up the good in exchange for what God promises is best for us- especially when it comes to our finances. But God's Word reminds us time and time again that He, not our job, not our hard work, not our skill or position is our source. It's tempting when things are tight to shrink back from giving to God what He asks us to (like tithes and offerings), however it's in those very times that we have the opportunity to trust in Him and see Him provide for us more than we ever could "save" on our own. While obedience always brings God's blessing, disobedience also brings God's curse- especially when it comes to our finances (Deuteronomy 28). In reality, we cannot afford not to give back to God what's already His because it will always end up costing us more in the end. God invites us today to put His promise to the test (Malachi 3:10) and recognize again that He is our Provider for all that we need and more.
Prayer:
Father, we recognize that You are the source of all good things and that as stewards, it's our desire to be found faithful with all that You've entrusted to us. Help us to acknowledge Your control over our finances today and be willing to trust You completely no matter how difficult it seems. Give us the opportunity to be blessed as we continue to invest in Your Kingdom today. Amen.
"When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. 3 For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, 4 but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. 5 And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. The land must have a year of complete rest. 6 But you may eat whatever the land produces on its own during its Sabbath...19 Then the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it. 20 But you might ask, ‘What will we eat during the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year?’ 21 Be assured that I will send my blessing for you in the sixth year, so the land will produce a crop large enough for three years. 22 When you plant your fields in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the large crop of the sixth year. In fact, you will still be eating from that large crop when the new crop is harvested in the ninth year."
Observations:
As God prepared His people to inherit the Promise Land and all of the blessings that came with it, He first gave them some basic instructions concerning how they were to manage it when they got there by outlining some basic principles about how they were to harvest their crops. Every seventh year they were forbidden to plant anything in order to give the land an opportunity to rest and replentish itself. The only challenge for the Israelites was whether or not they would choose to trust God to be their provider or whether they would take matters into their own hands and ignore God's instructions. But along with the command to obey God also came a tremendous promise- if they would forgo planting crops in the seventh year, God promised to bless them with 3 years worth of harvest in advance! In the end, by simply obeying God's command not to trust only in what they could provide for themselves God would see to it that they actually ended up with more than double what they would have had if they just kept working as usual. But in order to see God's promise fulfilled it required them to trust God like never before. But by trusting God in this way they were also recognizing that it was God, not the Promise Land, that was ultimately their source.
Application:
It's often tempting for us to feel like we don't really have much of a choice when it comes to relying upon God because we can always come up with so many "good" excuses why it's just not a good idea. Sometimes it's hard to give up the good in exchange for what God promises is best for us- especially when it comes to our finances. But God's Word reminds us time and time again that He, not our job, not our hard work, not our skill or position is our source. It's tempting when things are tight to shrink back from giving to God what He asks us to (like tithes and offerings), however it's in those very times that we have the opportunity to trust in Him and see Him provide for us more than we ever could "save" on our own. While obedience always brings God's blessing, disobedience also brings God's curse- especially when it comes to our finances (Deuteronomy 28). In reality, we cannot afford not to give back to God what's already His because it will always end up costing us more in the end. God invites us today to put His promise to the test (Malachi 3:10) and recognize again that He is our Provider for all that we need and more.
Prayer:
Father, we recognize that You are the source of all good things and that as stewards, it's our desire to be found faithful with all that You've entrusted to us. Help us to acknowledge Your control over our finances today and be willing to trust You completely no matter how difficult it seems. Give us the opportunity to be blessed as we continue to invest in Your Kingdom today. Amen.
So let's see...you get your paycheck in advance for 3 years "salary" and you get a one year vacation after 6 years. Sounds like an opportunity to not pass up!
ReplyDeleteThrow this in if you coordinate correctly with the year of Jubilee (every seven years your debt was completly forgiven) -No wonder 7 is a lucky number. Boy would credit card companies have to rethink their business if we wre still allowed to cancel our debt afetr 6 years! I am all for it.