SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 25
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. [Luke 4:18-21]
The year of the Lord’s favour, the year of liberation and celebration!
The Sabbath year and the Year of Jubilee both symbolically point to the Lord’s ultimate plan to restore liberation and celebration, once and for all.
Everything is moving towards liberation and celebration.
The promised Sabbath and Jubilee are realized in Jesus.
He is the one that removes the barriers to liberation and joy, and sets the captives free.
By His life, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus has firmly established God’s kingdom.
We are now living in the Sabbath and the Jubilee, and we are awaiting its final manifestation.
One symbolic reason that we celebrate the first day of the week is because we live OUT OF the victory of Jesus.
Though we still look forward to its final unveiling, we are living eternal life now, we are in the kingdom now!
No matter what happens in this life, even when things go wrong and we lose our way or our place, the day is coming when everything will be restored.
God’s people may lose their land, their wealth, their freedom, but there is a better day coming!
This promise is for God’s children but also for God’s creation.
The land looks forward to this day of liberation [Romans 8:19-21].
Am I living in the experience of liberation and celebration?
Am I refusing to be defeated by what I see right now, knowing by faith that Jesus is Lord, the victory is won, and I am free, no matter what!
Does my day to day living reflect this?
Am I helping others experience this too?
PRAYER:
Lord, make my life a living expression of Sabbath and Jubilee, freedom, rest and joy. And may others want what I have in You!
We know a Sabbath day – a day that we do no work and we spend time with God. But imagine a Sabbath year, when we do no work and the land has rest and you eat whatever the land produces! That would certainly show total trust and dependence upon the Lord God the Giver of all that I have. All to often we pay lip service and depend on the works of our own hands. But God says – depend upon me. I am the Giver of all good things. Believe in Me.
Then we have the year of Jubilee. What an equalizer. restoration of all what the Lord God has given us. And once again we don’t sow. Eat only what grows from the fields. Talk about faith. Talk about dependence. Talk about grace.
Just do and you will freely in the land. But we know what happened.
So today, how do I live? Dependent on myself. On Jesus Christ my Redeemer?
Help me to celebrate every day Lord for the joy of the Lord God is my strength. You continue to give Life to all who believe and one day You will restore Your creation as it should be. And in the meantime, help me to celebrate Your presence in my Life as I live for You, dependent on You in/for all things. Help me daily to be Your champion so that others may see Christ Jesus living in me.
Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?