Exodus 23:10-12
For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed. "
I recall studying in geography about the orang asli, people who practice shifting cultivation. As normadic dwellers, they go around and clear any suitable land for subsistence cultivation and live there for a couple of years. Without the use of fertilisers, after a few years, the nutrients of the land will soon be exhausted. Thus, they pack up, leave it to idle (fallow) and move onto another plot of land. Many years later, the original piece of land would regain its nutrients and moisture and be suitable for them to go back and use it.
Even in commercial farming, leaving the field idle to fallow for a period of time warrants an important role as it not only helps retains nutrients and moisture, it also reduces soil disturbing activities and allows for a time of rest. Thus all these helps ensure that the ground never goes barren and remains useful for continual cultivation of crops.
In the above passage, God leaves clear instructions to the people of Isreal to leave the ground to fallow for 1 year after 6 years of use. Likewise, the people, beasts of burdens and slaves were also to follow suit but in a timeframe of 1 day of rest for every 6 days of work. Compare this in light of the 10 Commandments which states
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."(Exodus 20:8-11)
When God created the universe, the bible records that for each day of creation, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. On the 7 day, Genesis 2:2-3 records that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
God did not rest because He was exhausted from all that effort of creating. I believe that the Almighty God choosed to observe and take in the beauty of His perfect completion. Thus on the 7 day, there was nothing more to be done but to step back and observe the beauty functions and working splendour of His creation efforts. Thus, He blessed that day because it marked the completion of His majestic works
Haven't we all notice that when a school building or significant structure is built, it is not the installation days of the key elements that we commemorate and celebrate but the actual official date of completion when all can look, walk around and observe. Similarly this official opening celebration of creation was called the Sabbath.
We are not gods. All of creation needs rest. Even as we observe the needs of nature and its need to fallow to regain its strength and remain sustainable in the long run. How often we forget the importance of experiencing a Sabbath - a period where we can rest and allow the 'nutrients and moisture' that refreshes us and makes us strong again.
As we forge onwards in the pressures of the world, we must always remember the truth in Romans that we have to be set apart and are already given an inheritance of God's perfect will in our lives. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)
Sadly, how often it is that we forget that we are God's chosen and become ensnared by the systems, expectations and pressure of the world that we do everything like everyone else. When everyone rushes home to study for exams or complete their projects on our Sabbath, so do we. When everyone is panicking because the pressure is kicking in, so do we. When our human confidence fails and in our sight we are doomed, we choose to do all we can to save the situation but fail to throw ourselves and find refuge and restoration in the presence of the Almighty Creator God.
I believe whole-heartedly that if the day before the biggest exams/project/life-or-death situation rests on a Sunday, the person who chooses to abide in that Sabbath day will find himself/herself refreshed and restored in body, soul, spirit and mind. For God has decreed in the days of Moses and today that "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work".
Blessings
M.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)
06 July 2006
Sabbath - Fallowing of Your life
Exodus 23:10-12
For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed. "
I recall studying in geography about the orang asli, people who practice shifting cultivation. As normadic dwellers, they go around and clear any suitable land for subsistence cultivation and live there for a couple of years. Without the use of fertilisers, after a few years, the nutrients of the land will soon be exhausted. Thus, they pack up, leave it to idle (fallow) and move onto another plot of land. Many years later, the original piece of land would regain its nutrients and moisture and be suitable for them to go back and use it.
Even in commercial farming, leaving the field idle to fallow for a period of time warrants an important role as it not only helps retains nutrients and moisture, it also reduces soil disturbing activities and allows for a time of rest. Thus all these helps ensure that the ground never goes barren and remains useful for continual cultivation of crops.
In the above passage, God leaves clear instructions to the people of Isreal to leave the ground to fallow for 1 year after 6 years of use. Likewise, the people, beasts of burdens and slaves were also to follow suit but in a timeframe of 1 day of rest for every 6 days of work. Compare this in light of the 10 Commandments which states
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."(Exodus 20:8-11)
When God created the universe, the bible records that for each day of creation, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. On the 7 day, Genesis 2:2-3 records that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
God did not rest because He was exhausted from all that effort of creating. I believe that the Almighty God choosed to observe and take in the beauty of His perfect completion. Thus on the 7 day, there was nothing more to be done but to step back and observe the beauty functions and working splendour of His creation efforts. Thus, He blessed that day because it marked the completion of His majestic works
Haven't we all notice that when a school building or significant structure is built, it is not the installation days of the key elements that we commemorate and celebrate but the actual official date of completion when all can look, walk around and observe. Similarly this official opening celebration of creation was called the Sabbath.
We are not gods. All of creation needs rest. Even as we observe the needs of nature and its need to fallow to regain its strength and remain sustainable in the long run. How often we forget the importance of experiencing a Sabbath - a period where we can rest and allow the 'nutrients and moisture' that refreshes us and makes us strong again.
As we forge onwards in the pressures of the world, we must always remember the truth in Romans that we have to be set apart and are already given an inheritance of God's perfect will in our lives. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)
Sadly, how often it is that we forget that we are God's chosen and become ensnared by the systems, expectations and pressure of the world that we do everything like everyone else. When everyone rushes home to study for exams or complete their projects on our Sabbath, so do we. When everyone is panicking because the pressure is kicking in, so do we. When our human confidence fails and in our sight we are doomed, we choose to do all we can to save the situation but fail to throw ourselves and find refuge and restoration in the presence of the Almighty Creator God.
I believe whole-heartedly that if the day before the biggest exams/project/life-or-death situation rests on a Sunday, the person who chooses to abide in that Sabbath day will find himself/herself refreshed and restored in body, soul, spirit and mind. For God has decreed in the days of Moses and today that "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work".
Blessings
M.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)
For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed. "
I recall studying in geography about the orang asli, people who practice shifting cultivation. As normadic dwellers, they go around and clear any suitable land for subsistence cultivation and live there for a couple of years. Without the use of fertilisers, after a few years, the nutrients of the land will soon be exhausted. Thus, they pack up, leave it to idle (fallow) and move onto another plot of land. Many years later, the original piece of land would regain its nutrients and moisture and be suitable for them to go back and use it.
Even in commercial farming, leaving the field idle to fallow for a period of time warrants an important role as it not only helps retains nutrients and moisture, it also reduces soil disturbing activities and allows for a time of rest. Thus all these helps ensure that the ground never goes barren and remains useful for continual cultivation of crops.
In the above passage, God leaves clear instructions to the people of Isreal to leave the ground to fallow for 1 year after 6 years of use. Likewise, the people, beasts of burdens and slaves were also to follow suit but in a timeframe of 1 day of rest for every 6 days of work. Compare this in light of the 10 Commandments which states
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."(Exodus 20:8-11)
When God created the universe, the bible records that for each day of creation, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. On the 7 day, Genesis 2:2-3 records that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
God did not rest because He was exhausted from all that effort of creating. I believe that the Almighty God choosed to observe and take in the beauty of His perfect completion. Thus on the 7 day, there was nothing more to be done but to step back and observe the beauty functions and working splendour of His creation efforts. Thus, He blessed that day because it marked the completion of His majestic works
Haven't we all notice that when a school building or significant structure is built, it is not the installation days of the key elements that we commemorate and celebrate but the actual official date of completion when all can look, walk around and observe. Similarly this official opening celebration of creation was called the Sabbath.
We are not gods. All of creation needs rest. Even as we observe the needs of nature and its need to fallow to regain its strength and remain sustainable in the long run. How often we forget the importance of experiencing a Sabbath - a period where we can rest and allow the 'nutrients and moisture' that refreshes us and makes us strong again.
As we forge onwards in the pressures of the world, we must always remember the truth in Romans that we have to be set apart and are already given an inheritance of God's perfect will in our lives. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)
Sadly, how often it is that we forget that we are God's chosen and become ensnared by the systems, expectations and pressure of the world that we do everything like everyone else. When everyone rushes home to study for exams or complete their projects on our Sabbath, so do we. When everyone is panicking because the pressure is kicking in, so do we. When our human confidence fails and in our sight we are doomed, we choose to do all we can to save the situation but fail to throw ourselves and find refuge and restoration in the presence of the Almighty Creator God.
I believe whole-heartedly that if the day before the biggest exams/project/life-or-death situation rests on a Sunday, the person who chooses to abide in that Sabbath day will find himself/herself refreshed and restored in body, soul, spirit and mind. For God has decreed in the days of Moses and today that "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work".
Blessings
M.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)
