What is the single most valuable thing in your life? For the most shallow of us, we might answer, “My house, or my 401k.” Others might be a bit more spiritual and say, “My family.” While there’s nothing wrong with either of those answers, those aren’t the most valuable things in your life. The single most valuable thing you have in your life is time…the time God has given you on this earth. So, the question is…what are you doing with your time? Are you spending it on earthly pleasures, or are you using it to grow God’s eternal kingdom?

For some of us, remembering where we came from before we were rescued by Jesus can be a hard exercise. I know for me it is. I lived as a drug addict for many years…miles away from God, not caring about myself or any of the people around me…hopelessly bound in sin. And yet, THAT…THAT awful place…THAT is where Jesus stepped into my life and everything changed. How about you? What’s your story of redemption? Can you remember where you were when Jesus intervened in your life?

We’ve all heard the question before, “When was the last time you saw a U-Haul following behind a hearse?” People make this joke to point out an eternal reality, though. Many times, we live as though this life is the only thing. We amass wealth with little regard for the people in need around us. We think that all our wealth is going to somehow magically go with us when we die, thus the U-Haul question. Pastor Bill reminds us today to live with eternity in mind and share and give in ways that honor God.

Imagine if your life were ONLY filled with God’s blessings? Now, you might think, “That would be amazing!” But, now stop and ask yourself how you would change…meaning, how would you ever know the ways that you ARE NOT pleasing God in your life? The reality is that you wouldn’t. Pastor Bill will remind us today that the blessings of God many times come from our decisions to obey Him. And when we DO NOT obey Him, He lovingly disciplines us for the express purpose of making us more like Him.

There’s no denying it; there’s a direct correlation to the blessing of God and our decisions to obey Him. Now, does that mean that ALL of our blessings and ALL of God’s goodness in our lives is earned by our obedience? Definitely not! There are example after example of God’s COMPLETE, UNMERITED favor and blessing in our lives. But we can’t ignore that obedience is also a pathway for blessing in the lives of those who follow Jesus. Pastor Bill will encourage all of us to walk in obedience because we love Jesus.

What a beautiful picture Pastor Bill just painted! Who knew that the laws in the book of Leviticus could speak so plainly to our spiritual condition as slaves to sin!?!?!? And yet, they do! You’ll learn today that YOU were once in complete bondage and slavery to sin. But, God! But God intervened in your life and extended His grace so that you could confess and repent, receiving the free gift of salvation. Salvation IS being freed from the slavery of sin. 

What Pastor Bill was just describing is the Biblical concept of usury. And if you were listening carefully, you could probably hear commonalities in almost all of the spaces of our modern financial systems. What happens if you don’t pay off the FULL balance of your credit card statement each month? You’re going to pay a HEFTY amount of interest. Pastor Bill explains that this SHOULD NOT be the practices and behavior of those who follow Christ. When we lend to one another, we should NOT charge interest.

As we’ve been making our way through the twenty-fifth chapter of Leviticus, we can see that God has special protections and provisions for the Levitical tribe. Why is that? Well, the Levites were the family that God called to conduct the worship of God in His temple. So, naturally, God implemented protections and provisions so that they could focus on their calling and ministry. Today, we’ll see the parallels between the Levites and modern pastors and church staff that are provided for by the tithes and offerings of God’s people.

The idea of taking every seventh day off from work is a completely foreign idea for most people. And then when we talk about the Jubilee Year, where God commanded people to take an ENTIRE YEAR OFF!?!?!?!? This sounds preposterous!!! And yet we know that Jesus encouraged His followers to obey the Sabbath command. Remember, Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for YOU…not you for “it”. Today you’ll learn how to obey God’s command in faith and enjoy the blessings that result.

Imagine if the Jubilee Year were still a practice in our world today. As Pastor Bill just said, the natural human tendency toward greed would likely overtake most people. When the forty-ninth year arrived, most people would be applying for every credit card they could and then MAXING them out, spending on anything and everything, frivolously. Today, you’ll learn from Pastor Bill that this was never God’s intention for the Jubilee Year…the Jubilee Year was intended to keep land within the tribes they were originally given.