Inspired, empowered, connected to gather. As we entered the new year I was deep in conversation with the Lord. The only thing I kept hearing was “jubilee”. Some of you are probably thinking what “jubilee” has to do with gathering, but stay with me for a moment. Jubilee most times is associated with the “Year of Jubilee”, but that is not what God wanted to show me. In fact, what I discovered was a system of connecting and gathering. That’s right connecting and gathering.

God had established a system in the Book of Leviticus 25. The people would gather to sew their seed each year. Then the following year they would reap a harvest that would sustain them for the following year. In the sixth year the Lord said to them that they should let the land rest. During the six years of sewing and harvesting people gathered together to work the land to sew their seed. Some read this and think only of how they maintained their families. However, was it really them maintaining their families? Didn’t God tell them to sew the seed and he would provide the harvest? God’s system was a relationship system not just a simple economy. Consequently, these families had to trust God for the harvest because He is the one that provided them with the seed. Moreover, it was a system where individuals had to work together to sustain their families. Furthermore, in those times families where considered tribes because multiple families traveled and lived together. Comparatively speaking it was a group of families under God’s authority working together to achieve a common goal.

In verse 20 a question is posed ” What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops”? The response that God gave was that he would send a blessing in the sixth year that would keep them for three years to come and while they planted in the eighth year they would still be eating from the old crop into the ninth year. As I pondered this passage I recall saying this was not about sewing as much as it was about relationship. Not only did it reveal the power of the seed, the harvest, and provision, but it also showed us that relationships in unity working together mattered to God.

God was showing them that he was the one who provided through their work in planting the seed as long as they worked together. He was the one that produced the harvest that they would reap. It has always been God’s economy which has evolved over the centuries to bring people together in a common place under God to produce so much more than just the harvest, but to gather individuals in unity in the world. Jubilee was not so much the families celebrating as much as it was God blessing them for working together under God to plant the seed and trust him for the harvest. By doing this God established his great commission in the world to fulfill the promise he made to our ancestors.

During these difficult times what are you doing to work with the families that God has placed on your path? There are so many different ways to connect. There are so many different ways to show a random act of kindness. Bless an elderly person with your time. Bless a needy family with groceries. Bless a friend with a message via chat or facetime. Whatever it is, there are so many ways that the body of Christ can gather together in unity to plant seeds of hope. Be inspired, empowered, connected to gather in unity under God for a common mission to reach the world for Christ through random acts of kindness.

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