Leviticus 25:11

The Sabbath is perhaps the most misunderstood commandment. Far from an austere day of legalistic rules prohibiting your favorite activities, it’s an invitation to slow down and experience delight. In this seven-day reading plan, we’ll look at how the Bible describes Sabbath as a wellspring of joy, gratitude, connection, justice, peace, and delight. By walking the Sabbath way, we can receive the abundant life Jesus came to offer us.

Discipleship works against fear. As we obey God’s commands, we entrust ourselves to him. Like the students attending the schools founded by D. L. Moody in Northfield, MA, God’s people “are encouraged to test the meaning and value of the Bible’s teachings experimentally, by acting upon them, and living them out.” As we “test experimentally” the word of God, we will find that we will have fewer and fewer reasons to be afraid. You can get an expanded version of this plan at moodycenter.org/fear.

Tearfund’s mission is to help communities around the world escape the very worst effects of poverty and disaster. How might this mission be tied to the Biblical concept of jubilee? There are seven themes in Leviticus 25 that depict a twofold movement of God’s acting and our responding, releasing us to the better life God has for us.

Justice is built into everything that exists. That’s why we have a sense of when it’s missing. Justice is not just a piece of God’s character—it’s a picture of it. When we seek justice, we pursue God’s best for everyone, so in this 7-day Plan, we’ll discover the origins of justice, the problem of injustice, our call to act, and God’s good plans to restore all things.