Leviticus 25:8-55 - Let go of something and see what happens

So we have had Sabbath days and Sabbath years, we also have Jubilee years, once every 50 years.

What is all this about? As we go on in life things get out of kilter. Even with the best of intentions, things will drift from the way they are meant to be, things will get out of balance. So every 50 years everything was to be returned to its original owners, and owners here meant the family that it came from.

Now economists will throw their hands up in horror and say this is totally unworkable. Well, one might observe that the current economic system seems to have more than a few problems!

There is a fundamental difference in principle here. The world thinks that the earth belongs to us, but the truth is that it belongs to God (v23). When men claim control we end up exploiting people, whatever political or economic system you have, whether capitalism or socialism or communism. When we acknowledge that it belongs to God people are protected from exploitation.

Notice also that there were rules to ensure that people did not take unfair advantage of this. God is a realist. 

Now we may think that if we follow God's ways we will lose out, but the truth is that a people that follow God's ways will actually prosper. When we let go we will find that we are more blessed, we will find that the system is more just.

We do not have control of whole economic or social systems, so we cannot implement this on that scale. But we can apply the Sabbath principles in our own lives. We need to have generous hearts, treating people with mercy and kindness. We need to rest and rejoice in the Lord. In fact you may notice that these things are just like the fruit of the Spirit.

Let go of something and see what happens!