Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

• Leviticus 25:1-7

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

• Revelation 2:1-5

“In November the Sabbath Year had gone by. …
“[In prayer later on…]  ‘I am willing to have meetings every day, counseling, writing books; but please, let me sleep every night in the same bed. Everyone can understand that at my age I should take it a bit easier.’
“I got up rejoicing. This new plan of mine made me really happy.
“Then Conny called. An African minister from far away Ruanda had come to visit. He started immediately to welcome me: ‘We are so glad that you are willing to come to Ruanda again. Five years ago you helped us so marvelously when you told what the Lord had been to you in your great need. You said that it was not your faith that helped you through three prisons, for your faith was weak and often wavering. You said it was the Lord Himself who carried you through and that you knew from experience that Iesus’ light is stronger than the deepest darkness.’
“The African brother continued, ‘Five years ago, however, that was just theory to us. None of us had ever been prisoners. Now there has been a civil war in our country. Many of us have been in prison. I, myself, was in prison for two years. It was then that l remembered everything you had said. I did not have the faith of Corrie ten Boom, I did not even have faith for myself, but I knew to look to the same Jesus who gave you faith. He has also given it to me and that is why we are so happy that you are now coming again to Ruanda.”
“But I was not happy at all. His words were different from what I wanted to hear. I knew that in such situations I could change the subject by asking a question. Perhaps this would make God stop reminding me of His plans and leave me alone so I could follow mine.
“ ‘How is the church in Ruanda?’ I asked. ‘What kind of message do they need now?’
“Without hesitating one moment the brother opened his Bible and began to read … Revelation 2:1-5.
“This arrow penetrated my heart. Not only Ruanda needed that message, but also Corrie ten Boom. I had lost my first love. Twenty years before I had come out of a concentration camp-starved, weak-—but in my heart there was a burning love: a love for the Lord who had carried me through so faithfully—a love for the people around me—a burning desire to tell them that Jesus is a reality, that He lives, that He is victor. …”

• Corrie ten Boom, Tramp for the Lord

Corrie ten Boom had been told by her doctor that she would die soon if she did not slow down.  She knew that God had designated a Sabbath Year and for twenty years, she had gone non-stop.

She chose an idyllic spot in Uganda.  She became used to sleeping in the same bed every night.  That seems to be her running joke throughout this book.  As soon as she sleeps in a real bed for more than a day or two, she would get a call to drop everything. Someone far away needed her to deliver her message.  So, besides the beauty and tranquility of where she was, she had comfort for the first time since before the Nazi soldiers came and the Gestapo started working from house to house.  She may have been in ministry for twenty years, but there was turmoil for years before that.

She had prayed that she would share her message in the neighboring towns.  Consider the pastors of churches.  They do not travel the world, yet God uses them.  Here, the doctor told her to take a Sabbath Year off, and only then did he promise her a few more years of ministry.  If a pastor preached in one town for twenty years and then retired, why couldn’t she do that?

She was happy with that decision.  Semi-retirement before total retirement, but then a need appeared.

The last verse of Revelation 2:1-5 cut deep into her.  Repent and return to your first love.  If you do not your light in your lampstand will be snuffed out.

She grabbed her bags, and she said farewell to the bed she had known for the previous year.  She was on the road again.

But as a blogger, unless you have a compatriot to write for you for a while, there is no Sabbath Year.  We can rest on the Sabbath and write more the rest of the week, and I often do that.  Many Sundays, I think of everything that I will write for that week, even looking up the Scripture.  The writing then becomes the easy part on Monday and Tuesday.  I have often written that I may intend to write but then the nap monster causes me to fall asleep for a while.  That can happen any day of the week, but oddly more often on weekends.

We all need our rest, but when that rest is over, Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws start to apply.  An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by other forces.  But an object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by external forces.  Sometimes, we need a swift kick to get moving.  In this case for Tante Corrie, she needed a swiftly Bible verse read by someone in need.

Lord, strengthen me.  Remind us of that first love.  You instilled the love of writing in me in my early teens.  As circumstance kept taking me from one job to another, I continued to write.  At one point, I thought I could write Sunday school materials for a living, but I was discouraged by my own family.  I was said to be crazy, but You have guided me to this point.  I need You and Your strength to continue on.  My work is not done until I have breathed my last.  In Your name I pray.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.