What is the basis for the economic well-being of the
people? Faith. They had to have the faith to not plant one
year out of seven, to forego the productive capacity of the land that year, to
trust that God would provide enough in year six that they would have enough to
let the land rest that entire next year.
It is a good agricultural principle but the restrictions about Sabbath
and Jubilee years were all about faith.
Has anyone ever taken a year off from work? We tend to make commitments financially that
require us to work every year until retirement don't we? They were no different from us, God told
Jeremiah that they should plan on their exile lasting seventy years, a year for
all the Sabbath years they had not given the Land. For nearly five hundred years they had not
complied with the commandment. With
smart phones we don't even have to take off a single minute from work do
we? Where is God calling you to radical
faith?
Where is your treasure, your contentment, your peace? A man asks Jesus, as a rabbi, to settle a
dispute about an estate between him and his brother. Fair enough, the laws that govern inheritance
were applied by rabbis, it wasn't an out of order question. Jesus, however, is
more concerned about the man's soul than the dispute. What is the motive for the question? He wants more than his brother is willing to
give him. The parable of the rich fool
is a reminder that we don't know what tomorrow will bring, whether we live or
whether we will stand before Him in judgment.
What is the chief preoccupation of man?
The chief end of man, says the Westminster Shorter Catechism, is to
glorify God and enjoy Him forever. What
is implied but not stated in that formula is that we are to be doing those
things now. What does your life say
about your preoccupation?
James says to count it all joy when you meet trials of
various kinds. I had a friend once who
believed you shouldn't pray for patience because God would give you trials that
would ultimately produce patience in you.
She heard it in a sermon and therefore fussed at my wife one day when
she prayed for the woman to be given that gift.
She understood the sermon but not the truth. The truth is that we want patience, we want
steadfastness that James talks about, but we don't want the trials that produce
those things. We want blessings we can
measure and enjoy. We tend to be
materialists. Whatever your situation
today, count it all joy and worship the giver of all good things.
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