Within the Cloud

“When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD.  For six years sow…prune…and gather…But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest…Do not sow…or prune…or reap…or harvest” Leviticus 25:2.

When I read this passage today I immediately thought of my children.  For many years, motherhood was the land God gave me, which required my investment of heart, mind and soul for their growth.  For years I tried to sow Godly principles into their lives, and lovingly disciplined them when necessary.  I gathered their hugs and kisses, reaped the benefits of their love, and harvested the daily blessings of raising them.  Then one day I looked up and realized that I was in my sabbath season.  They are all adults now and it is my time to rest from that land.  But that is easier said than done since I still have a heart for the land where babies need holding…hearts need restoring…little minds need molding.  But seasons are temporary and the yield of the land is seasonal.  One of the most difficult things is to keep our hands off of something from which God has given us rest.  We are not to interfere with the seventh day rest, but are to enjoy eating from the fruit of the land in which we live.  So much happens in the 6 days of work leading up to the day of rest.  But it is nothing in comparison to the seventh day sabbath, that season when God removes past responsibilities to speak something new into our lives.

Spiritually speaking our lives are similarly lived as Moses’ experience.  He was called to come up to the top of Mount Sinai.  For six days there were clouds…no visibility…complete silence.  Then on the seventh day Moses experienced the presence of God.  ‘For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud’ Exodus 24:16.  It was on the seventh day, the sabbath, when Moses finally heard God’s voice and experienced His presence.  On the seventh day is when God spoke about things that increased holiness...obedience...righteousness.  It would be a requirement for His children as they journeyed to the Promised Land.

When God calls us to a new place we must be positioned to receive the new land.  While we can be sentimental about the old, we must be ignited and excited about the new!   God will speak new truths into our spirit when we meet Him on the mountain.  It is in the sabbath rest that God’s glory will be seen, and His plan for our lives will be revealed.