Holly Days

02.03.12

Exodus 35.2 2 “For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. NASB

When we take a mandated day off, we call it a holiday: and we pronounce it “holly-day.” In our culture we don’t take holy days because we mostly are not holy people. That doesn’t mean we aren’t Christians, it just means we don’t celebrate that many holy days and when we do they aren’t set apart as days to focus on the Lord. To us, they are holly-days, as in deck the halls with bows of…

God mandated from the get-go that the Jews would take a day off a week to celebrate Him. It was a day to cease from work and to focus their attention on their spiritual lives. They weren’t even supposed to kindle a fire on those days. Those holy days were to be faithfully and regularly observed, and the people were to do no work on those days. The holy days were to be part of their culture and normal routine. And they were mandatory with severe consequences for the one(s) who chose not to obey.

When is the last time you took a holy day; a day set apart for the Lord? It is so foreign to my thinking that I don’t think I really ever have. Most of my days off are decked with bows of whatever-in-the-heck-I-want-to-do. Sure, I have some around the house kinds of things to do, but those are really more like catch-up days that I have to get caught up on all the things I’ve let slide all week. On our days off, my wife and I like to make a list of to-do’s and get them done. We feel good when our to-do’s are to-done. But set aside a whole day to focus on nothing but the Lord? Where’s the holly?

I’d probably be better off, in my mind and heart, if I took time to be holy; if I set aside time to focus on the Lord, and not let the worries of this world creep in and use up my energies and my efforts. My work and weekly routine might be better if I allowed the Lord to direct it and if I took time to get quiet and listen for Him. Heck, I’d probably be better off if I ate unsalted corn chips on those days and just drank water.

Maybe it’s time to do that. Maybe it’s time to initiate some holy-time and maybe work to stretch it into holy-days. Maybe it’s time to schedule some quiet time in a quiet place to listen for God and share with Him my trust in all He does just by being silent, or repeating the words, thank You, every time a need or a concern comes to mind rather than asking Him for His help to provide for something He’s already promised to provide.

I know we modern believers don’t live under the Jewish Law but it looks to me like we don’t live under much of any law… except the law that says, my time is my time to do whatever in the heck I want to do…when I want to do it! I’m not seeing the God-honoring aspect of that…

Yes, today I am convicted to do something about holy-time that can turn into, with regularity and schedule, holy days. It’s time to act.