Leviticus 23 Devotional

A Calendar Built Around God

“On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willows of the brook. And you are to rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.”Leviticus 23:40 (BSB)

Israel's year is laid out here. It begins with the weekly Sabbath, a day of complete rest (23:3), and moves through Passover, the firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths (23:5-36). God did not leave his people's time to drift. He shaped it around rest, remembrance, and his presence.

Some details are telling. No one was to eat from the new harvest until the firstfruits had been brought to God (23:14). At harvest the edges of the field were left for the poor (23:22). And for seven days Israel lived in booths and was told to rejoice before the LORD, so their descendants would know how he had brought them out of Egypt (23:40-43). Paul calls the risen Christ the firstfruits of those who have died, the first of a harvest still to come (1 Corinthians 15:20). Your own calendar is a place where trust becomes visible, in the rest you take and the first portion you give.

To think about: How could the way you plan your week show that your time belongs to God, through rest, worship, or giving?