It is obedience and not a human effort that leads to fruitfulness and blessing in our spiritual journey. The Scripture appears where Israel is told to rest the land and themselves every seventh year. Human wisdom tells us that if we do not work, we do not eat, which is generally true, but there are times that He supersedes human understanding for our good and to prove Himself to us. Matthew Henry says this portion of Scripture is “to be an encouragement to all God’s people of all ages to trust him in their duty and to give their cares to him .”
Faithfulness and persistence are character traits that God wants to build into all believers, and they will bring fruitfulness, but only when coupled with obedience. I tend to be a consistent person, but occasionally, I have found myself consistently wrong.
King Saul lost his kingdom because of self-reliance and self-effort. This is the reason the prophet Samuel said to Saul “…to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams” (I Samuel 15:22). Some of us faithful Christian workers need to learn, as our forefathers in Israel did, to obey is better than sacrifice. As our young people would tell us, sometimes we need to learn to chill.
Pray with me. Lord, put to death my self-effort and self-reliance. Help me to persevere in only what You want and not what I want. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
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