Jesus came not to destroy the idea of Jubilee, but to extend the spirit of it to people in every nation.



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The Christian apostle Paul made an uncomfortable statement. 'I don't run without a goal,' he said. 'And I don't box by beating my fists in the air. I keep my body under control and make it my slave.'

For 'under control' he uses a word which means to tease or annoy an opponent until he gives in or complies. Today, we'd be tempted to re-write it this way: 'My body keeps me under control, until I'm a slave to what it wants, when it wants it!'

In a world that's crazy about consumerism and lifestyle options, there's something attractive about a person who lives with simplicity, placing the whole of life in subservience to a higher calling.

Jubilee lifestyle also involves contentment. Job lost everything he possessed in one day, through no fault of his own. All that remained were a few friends of the type who make you prefer your enemies!

What was Job's first response? Did he break out the Muddy Water albums and sing the blues? No, he turned his eyes heavenward and declared: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.'

Make no mistake; Job was genuinely hurting when he said this. Yet he'd learned the powerful lesson of contentment. Being content does not mean lying down and taking whatever life dishes up to you, without a whimper. It means being grateful for what you still have, when your natural tendency might be to focus on what you've lost.

Jubilee living is also about giving 'dangerously'. It's no credit to us, Jesus said, if we only lend to those from whom we can expect a return. There's nothing extraordinary or God-honouring about that kind of giving - everybody does that.

We must, by doing more than is expected, prophetically challenge the status quo and point the way to something better - the kingdom of God. Giving dangerously means going beyond the call of duty in our support of worthy aid organisations and people.

Leviticus 25: 10-55
Matthew 18: 23-35
Luke 4: 18-19
1 Cor 9: 26-27 (C.E.V.)
Job 1: 21 CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.