Welcome to the year 2017! We wish blessings and favor to be with you throughout this whole year…….. and they can be when you rest in Jesus. Are we saying that this year will be filled with only good things and that it will be utopia? By all means, No! We understand that in this fallen world, there will always be trials and tribulations; but, we can Praise God because Jesus gives us true and lasting HOPE.
Genesis 2:2 (ESV)
And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
It is the year 2017 on the Gregorian calendar which is the most widely recognized calendar used in the world today. Note the last number of this year is the number 7. Another way to look at it is that 2017 is the number assigned to the year of the gentile (Greek) world while in the Hebrew calendar (sometimes called God’s calendar) it is the year 5777. That is a lot of sevens! We understand that God is both timeless and complete. That means that as His children, we can glean insight from both measurements of time presented to us today. Therefore, we would like share the significance of the number 7 as it relates to our lives today through the lens of our biblical, Holy Spirit filled, world view. According to E.W. Bullinger in his book Number in Scripture, the number seven is shevah in Hebrew. It is from the root savah, which means “to be full or satisfied and to have enough”. Therefore, when God completed creation and rested on the seventh day, it was full and perfect. Nothing could be added or taken away without tainting it. There was nothing more to do other than to rest and be at peace. Bullinger goes on to say, “In the creative works of God, seven completes the colors of the spectrum and rainbow, and satisfies in music the notes on the scale. In each of these the eighth is only a repetition of the first.” The instances of how God used the number seven to convey completion of creation and rest are too many for us to include here, but we are convinced that we are to look at our current year, and the significance of the number seven, as a time to focus on resting in Him.
Resting in Christ’s finished work is something we need to think about in our daily lives. But, does God really know about all the things that are facing us each day? Is He a distant Father in heaven or One Who does know the number of hairs on our heads?
Even the hairs on your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.
So how do we keep from being afraid, angry, agitated, depressed, disappointed, and discouraged? We must focus our minds on the Lord, Jesus Christ and remember all that He did for us on the cross. When we do that, He keeps us in perfect peace.
Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
The Lord does hear you and will be your help in time of need.
(Psalm 30) Looking to the Lord and waiting on God puts us in a place of rest.
Psalm 27:13-14 (AMPC)
[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living! Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.
“Resting in the Lord, Jesus Christ”, will be a topic we will continue to write about in future blogs. For today, and each day, follow the words of Micah:
Micah 7:7 (TLB)
As for me, I look to the Lord for his help; I wait for God to save me; he will hear me.
~Sarah and Joanne
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