Refreshment

Refreshment
Words of Faith 1-17-2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2023
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 23
[10] "For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, [11] 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.
[12] "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.

The fourth commandment required a day without work to remember and honor the Sabbath of the Lord. Sabbath was required as a time to recall and honor the magnificent work of God in creation. But Sabbath was much more! It was also a time for refreshment and renewal. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The principle of Sabbath as a pattern of rest and renewal extended even to the land and animals.
The Hebrew word used in verse 12 is a wonderful one. The word 'refreshed' is naphash, naw-fash.' It means to be breathed upon, or to be refreshed as if by a current of air. The image is that of a delightful breeze at the end of a hard day of work. What a wonderful picture. The Lord God who breathed life into man at creation, desires that man should cease from his labor that He may breathe upon man again. This is an act of re-creation and renewal.
The land was to be left fallow in the seventh year following the pattern of the creation story and God's rest on the seventh day. It is likely that Israelite farmers set aside one-seventh of their fields each year as fallow rather than leaving all of their land fallow for an entire year. This practice helped to prevent the exhaustion of the nutrients in the soil. The sabbatical year also provided for the poor, who could glean from the fields at this time. This was part of the social welfare provided by the Law. Foremost it was a time for God to refresh his creation.
The principle of sabbatical is applied today in many academic and ministry settings. In the seventh year, time away is afforded for study and refreshment, re-creation, and renewal. Even secular institutions have found great value in rest, re-tooling, and reflection.
I have asked the question before, and we will ask it again. How is your Sabbath? Do you have a pattern for rest and refreshment? Do you have a plan for periodic time away and renewal? Are you allowing the Lord to breathe upon you the breeze of refreshment?

Father God, I thank you for the refreshing pattern You have built into Your plan. I rejoice to know that You desire time with me to renew and re-create me. I give thanks for Your magnificent work in creation. Show me how I can honor You in the pattern of my living. Breathe on me, breath of God. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2023 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.