In college, I sat down every morning and planned my day in hour-long increments. In addition to my responsibilities as a student, I was a member of a sorority and a volunteer leader for a parachurch ministry. Occasionally, I popped into practices for the women’s lacrosse club or filled in during a game. Most days, my “responsibilities” made me feel genuinely happy. But the pace was relentless. I started breaking my daily schedule into 15-minute increments to ensure I had time to shower and eat.
Looking back, I see my younger self racing around, trying to convince the world that she was important. Her little 15-minute-by-15-minute schedules were proof: she was going places. Now, I am a wife, mother, and a sometimes-writer. I often see that girl in the mirror—the same one who feels she can’t afford to waste a moment, so she lets no one down, most of all, herself.
But God is trying to teach me that my time is not my own. Leviticus 23 outlines the rhythms of life for Israelites. And when I first read the chapter, three things jumped off the page. First, God makes specific, clear, and practical demands on people’s time and resources. Second, these demands inspire an adverse reaction in me that I like to call “obligation creep”—that feeling I get when my commitments outweigh my desire or ability to keep them. Third, the chapter shows me that rituals matter.
When we race through life, jumping from minute to minute, hour to hour, it’s easy to forget that God is omnipresent, above time. Our days are not our own. Leviticus 23 reminds me of this same reality. Our days are not ours to maximize, but reminders of God who is over it all. This change in perception has the power to lift the clouds of resentment and fear off of my shoulders. With this mindset, I can see intentional rest, unplanned interruptions, personal setbacks, and unforeseen diagnoses not as delays, but as God’s goodness.
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30 thoughts on "Rhythms of Remembrance"
Thinking of you, Sharon, Jersey Girl.
May your family have unity today and peace.
God be near to you all. <3
@Angie Mills I love your comment and the ways you tie it into the present! Thank you for your thoughts.
I’m reflecting on this current season of life. I really did work myself to a mental breakdown. I thought God had given me so many college games, so He must have known I could handle it all. Clearly I couldn’t. But I’m glad I was obedient and turned back some of the games to rest, and not push myself to uphold my commitments for fear of what other people would think about me. I liked the part from today’s devotion “God is our rest. He values rest and makes it a priority for us.” I really don’t give myself enough time to rest. Once this field hockey season is over I want to set better boundaries to preserve my need to REST. When I am well rested I can show up better to my job, my family, friends, boyfriend, my reffing, etc.
God established these holy days to point His people to what He would do through Jesus.
The SABBATH DAY is a weekly day of rest. This points to Jesus as our Eternal Rest. He revived our soul. We still celebrate this each week as we gather on Sundays in our local churches.
PASSOVER pointed to Jesus being the Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. He is our Redeemer. We still remember this each Lord’s Supper and every Good Friday.
The FESTIVAL OF UNLEAVENED BREAD pointed to Jesus being the Bread of Life. His body was broken for us. His death gave us life. We remember this truth every time we participate in the Lord’s Supper.
The FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS pointed to Jesus as the Firstfruit from the dead. He is the first to be resurrected to live forever. He is our Life. Because of His resurrection, we experience new life with Him now. One day, we will ride to live with Him eternally. We celebrate this truth every Easter. We should celebrate this truth with our church family every Sunday.
The FESTIVAL OF HARVEST or FEAST OF WEEKS pointed to Jesus as the Harvest-gatherer. He sent His Holy Spirit to live within His people, giving us the power to live by the Spirit so we can help in reaping the harvest of believers that He has prepared. We celebrate this when we remember or celebrate Pentecost.
The FESTIVAL OF TRUMPETS points to the day when Jesus will return with a trumpet blast. We look forward to the time when Jesus will return in order to usher in His kingdom perfectly and completely.
The DAY OF ATONEMENT pointed to Jesus as our Atoning Sacrifice. He bore our sins on the cross outside of the city of Jerusalem. We remember this day every Good Friday.
The FESTIVAL OF SHELTERS points to Jesus being our Refuge. He put on flesh and dwelt among us so that we can dwell in Him. We remember this truth every Christmas when we celebrate Jesus’ putting on flesh and living among us.
The lights in the Tabernacle remind us of Jesus. It was made with the purest olive oil. As one crushes olives in order to make oil to nourish us and give us life, so Jesus was crushed for us. His death gives us life and His life is light in a dark world.
The bread in the Tabernacle also reminds us of Jesus. As we continue to abide in Christ and allow Him to dwell in us, He will renew our spirit through His Holy Spirit within us and through His Word.
Every holy day or time is a time for us to rest and remember. God is our rest. He values rest for us and places it as a priority for us. In our rest, we are to stop and remember what God has done for us. Most of these holy days are feast days on which people had food as part of their remembering. However, the Day of Atonement was a day of fasting and that helped the people to focus on God’s stoning work. Whatever rests, holidays , feasts, or fasts we observe, we should observe them to God’s glory and use different objects to help us remember and focus on Christ. These days are teaching tools for us and others.
Definitely a reminder that our resources and our time are not ours – they are from God and should be treated as such with respect and holiness. I think this can be so easy to overlook in the daily grind of life, but each moment can be done intentionally and each change in the plan can be taken as a sign from God to shift perspective and just be.
Father God let me always know in my heart Your plans are better. Amen
This reminder that our time is a gift from God has helped me to prioritize my quiet time with Him. When I feel pressed for time, I can ask myself, when I meet Him face to face, will He be more concerned with how many miles I walked on the treadmill, or how I chose to spend time with Him? With how many things I crossed off my to do list before 8am, or how I laid the list aside to sit with Him. He gives me my time, and asks me to give the first fruits of that time back to Him. And time with Him is how it was meant to be!
CHURCHMOUSE – yes and amen. How’s your ear?
From HRT: “The human heart is prone to forgetfulness and self-sufficiency. Israel was prone to forget God’s provision for them, their rescue from Egypt, and even the special covenant God had made with them. With forgetfulness comes a failure to give thanks for what God has done and worship Him for who He is. In response, God graciously fills the people’s calendar with days and meals to help fight against forgetfulness and keep their hearts close to Him.”
TAYLOR ❤
The challenge is to keep the rituals in their place and not elevate them above true worship. I can turn holy moments into mindless ones if I’m not careful. While structure is beneficial so too is yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives me permission to worship freely and respectfully. It is the intimate relationship I have with Jesus that is paramount over ritual.