Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Chronicles 36:21 (New Living Translation)

So the message of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the seventy years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said.

The people of Judah were taken captive to Babylon. No one was left to farm. What happened to the land? It rested.

The concept of the Sabbath (1/7th) rest was not just for the LORD’s people. It extended to the land that the LORD gave His people. Greed, however, caused the people to forget about letting the land rest. If the land was producing crops, why let it lay? Why give it a rest? It was just a bunch of dirt.

The LORD gave the land a rest, and the rest was not what the people wanted.

Guess what? The LORD will have His way. We can obey Him in His way or we can disobey Him. The result will be the same. We can be blessed in His way or we can suffer in His way. The choice is ours.

Drunkenness, cheating on my spouse, hating my neighbor. I can do this things if I want as God gives me that choice. I can be blessed in His way (avoiding these things listed) or I can suffer in His way. I can do these things all I want and suffer through them.

The LORD told His people to let the land rest because that is what was best. The LORD tells me how to live because that is what is best. I can listen or ignore.