TIME TO FOCUS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"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." Exodus 23:10-11

As I prepared for this devotional, I ran onto a word I haven’t seen in some time. In fact, I have to admit that I had to look it up to make sure I understood it’s full meaning. The word in question: fallow.

In regard to the scripture today, it explains the state of the fields, vineyards and olive groves during each seventh year as commanded by God in this passage. The people of Israel were not to sow, prune, plow or cultivate the land in that seventh year…a year that would come to be known as the Sabbath year (see Leviticus 25:1-7). Just as God rested on the seventh day as He created everything, so too would the people be expected to allow the land to rest every seventh year.

You’ll also recall that when the Israelites had begun their exodus from Egypt to Mount Sinai, they became hungry and cried out to the Lord. God answered their needs with quail and then daily manna in the mornings with the exception of one day…that’s right…the seventh and Sabbath day. The people were directed to gather enough manna on the sixth day to carry over to the seventh so they would have something to eat on that seventh day. It was the only day that the manna would not spoil if held overnight. (For review, see Exodus 16)

So this command from God was not without some precedent. It was consistent in God placing special significance and honor to the Sabbath. It also had some other underlying intentions though:

1. It gave the land a rest. Constantly farming land over time can eventually deplete soil of its nutrients. Allowing the land to go untended for every seventh year would ensure that the crops would still be plentiful in the other six.

2. It provided for the poor and the wild animals. Without the land being worked, it would still provide food and although it was not as plentiful a harvest as when the land was worked, still the land would produce and provide for everyone with special emphasis given by God to the poor and the wild animals. God cared for all His creation.

3. It taught the people to have faith and dependence on God. The natural inclination would be for people to want to be in control and make sure they harvested the crops on their own so they could eat and make a living. But God wanted to people to see that the land…the Holy Land that He created…would produce food without the farmers doing anything. They would learn of God’s providence and goodness as he provided for their needs, even when they were doing nothing but resting. And that leads to my final point:

4. It made the people rest from their labors. Working the fields was hard work year after year to bring the harvest. Any farmer or vineyard worker will tell you how much time goes into working the land, planting the seed, harvesting the crop or pruning the vines. The Sabbath year would give the farmers a year off from doing anything to the land or the vines…and give them more time to focus on God.

More time to focus on God. Isn’t that something we could all pray for today? As we continue through this Lenten season, let’s see what we might be able to stop doing to turn our attention toward God and the only Son, Jesus, that He sent from Heaven to earth to save us all. If we really take account of our daily schedules, we can find time that we can receive our spiritual daily bread through communion with Him and His Word.

In Christ,

Mark

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