23 May 2023 – Trust In God To Provide

Trust In God To Provide

BRD REFLECTIONS:

Leviticus 25 and Psalm 93 (NIV)

(Samuel Tan, PTM for Family Life Ministry)

READ:

The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. ³ For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. ⁴ But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. ⁵ Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. ⁶ Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, ⁷ as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

¹⁸ “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. ¹⁹ Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. ²⁰ You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” ²¹ I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. ²² While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.

⁵⁵ for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

OBSERVE:

God commanded that the Israelites were to observe a Sabbath every seventh year unto the LORD to rest the land.  There is to be no sowing or working on the land.  They are to eat what grows on its own accord.

God promised to provide more than enough if the Israelites were to follow his decrees and obey his laws.

APPLY:

1. God created all things and he knows best how his creation works.  He knows best how our bodies function and what we need, hence, the Sabbath rest—so we can be refreshed physically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually.
2. The principle of abstaining from working the land during the Sabbath year is to give up the ownership of its produce, therefore, acknowledging that the Israelites do not own the land. Applying this principle today may mean breaking from pursuing materialism and wealth that give the illusion that they (materialism and wealth) signify our value and the value of our existence. 
3. We belong to God.  My existence is within the purpose and will of God. Trust in God and he will take care of us.

DO:

1. I will not be anxious but trust in God to provide for all our needs (my wife and me) when I retire in a few years’ time.
2. I am reminded that I belong to God and he owns me (Lev. 25:55).
3. As God’s servant, I will continue to worship and serve him amongst his people in Wesley Methodist Church.

PRAY:

Father God, thank you for making me yours.  Have mercy on me when I tried to meet my own needs and not trusting in your providence.  Draw me closer to you so that I may know and love you more.  Work in and through me, so that in ministry I may connect people to your grace and ultimately, yourself.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.