God has defined a series of interconnected rhythms which harmonize and synchronize our lives with His and with each other. There’s the daily cycle of morning and evening, the weekly sabbath, the monthly and annual cycles, the 7-year sabbatical / debt-release and the 50-year jubilee. Like a master symphony, each of these rhythms interweaves within and among the others to define a godly life mosaic.
The daily pattern is clear: evening followed by morning, night then day, define a recurring pattern of rest, sleep, work and celebration. (Ps 104:20-24) Realigning our thinking with God’s here may be richness well worth exploring: beginning with rest rather than work may improve both.
Ending the day at sunset, beginning our day with an evening of restful reflection and thanksgiving, recounting the blessings and trials of the prior day as we begin another, equips us to rest with intention, purpose and hope as we prep for the next day. Rest before work; we start by entering into His rest, abiding in Him, committing our plans to Him up front, sleeping on them first, for without Him we can do nothing. (Jn 15:5)
Remembering the sabbath day, to keep that particular day holy (Ex 20:8), resets our vision on God’s handiwork in Creation (11), that He is Lord of all. It also requires us to commit the prior week to God; if we are laboring in and for Him, we trust that what has been accomplished is sufficient. We can let it go in communion with the saints as we enjoy our weekly fellowship together (Le 23:3), encouraging and edifying one another in preparation for the coming week.
The monthly cycle helps us anticipate and celebrate God’s feasts, knowing which month it is and where we are in God’s annual cycle (Ex 12:2), so we can explore the recurring themes of His prophetic timeline as they are repeatedly played out before us. (Co 2:17) But which month is first? When does it start?
In these daily, weekly, monthly and annual cycles, the earth, sun and moon combine in various ways to show us the general patterns, but they don’t reveal exactly how to parse the time. When does a day or month begin, exactly? When does a year start? Further, how to start the week, or even the concept of a 7-day week, would be impossible to discern merely from Nature: God has to tell us explicitly about these rhythms and how to observe and align them or we’ll be guessing blindly.
It may seem unimportant to get the details right, but we should note that we’re dealing with foundations of life, family and communal relationships here, as well as with the revelation of a divine game plan. This is no small thing. God has given us specific instructions where we need them, on defining the week and the year, and reasonable hints at the rest if we’re interested in walking with Him in these mysterious and beautiful rhythms.
As precious and important as this all is, it should not come as any real surprise that the god of this world has re-defined every single one of these natural rhythms. Our cultural markers for days, weeks, months and years are all man-made; none are based in God and His revelation.
Maybe it would be good to rediscover God’s divine rhythms and enjoy them as He intended. When all else fails, read the instructions. It might not be so easy, given all the corruption that’s crept in, but perhaps the effort would be fruitful; even if we don’t get it perfect, maybe we can at least get closer, and God will be pleased to help us along the way.