Plato defined rhythm as “an order of movement”. I like that definition. The Bible has revealed God as one who indeed functions in an order of movement. He works in a rhythm. Times and seasons, Feasts and Days of remembrance, laws and traditions – the whole tenor of the Old Testament carries the rhythm of God – an order of movement which God chooses to intentionally function in. When individuals and nations are in sync with God, they are recipients of the creative blessings of God. When out of sync with God, the outcome is always chaos and disaster.
As we enter this New Year – with all its uncertainties, information and misinformation, conspiracy theories or genuine warnings – what’s certain is no one really knows what’s going on. My invitation to all of us is, rather than get caught up in all the fog of the unknown, let us do one thing that is certain to make 2021 a blessed year. Let’s keep in rhythm with God.
I want to take you to the first chapter of the Bible. Genesis chapter 1 – the creation story. I want you to see the order of movement, the pattern of regular recurring motion, a rhythm that produced a perfect world. The outcome was not just good but very good.
THE VERY FIRST LINE IN THE BIBLE
Genesis 1:1 (NKJV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
IN THE BEGINNING GOD. That is your starting point. To be in sync with God – You must believe God exists. He must be your beginning in everything. “Christ is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end”; “for in Him we live and move and have our being”. Paul speaking to the Colossian church on the preeminence of Christ, made this very clear.
Colossians 1:15-18 (NKJV) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
In the beginning God – that means we come to this place in our lives where everything we think, say and do has it’s beginnings with God. Our day begins with God. Our every decision has it’s beginnings with God. The choices we make has their beginnings with God. Our dreams, our ambitions, our moment by moment existence have their beginnings with God.
Not just begin with God – IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED. Know the God you start your day with – He is a creator. His nature is to create not to destroy.
John 10:10 (NKJV) The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
James 1:17 (NKJV) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
There are tons of Scriptures that speak of the nature of God. He is good. It is not sufficient to believe that God exists. We need to believe the God as revealed in Scripture. He is good all the time. He is good and only good.
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
NOT JUST BELIEVE GOD EXISTS BUT BELIEVE HE IS A GOOD GOD, WITH GOOD THOUGHTS TOWARDS US, AND GOOD PLANS AHEAD FOR US
In the beginning God created – start your year with this. Start everyday with this, live moment by moment with this. Say to yourself everyday this good God is my beginning and my end.
“GOD SAID AND IT WAS SO”
The second aspect of the rhythm of God is found in the way Moses records each day of creation starting with the phrase “God said” and ending the day with the phrase “and it was so”.
Take note of the rhythm – Gen 1: v3 (1st day), v6 (2nd day), v9 and again in v11 (3rd day), v14 (4th day), v20 (5thday), v24 (6th day)
The second aspect about the rhythm of God is that God always does what He says He will do. This year i am inviting you to hold on to this unwavering belief that God always does what He says He will do.
Numbers 23:19 (NKJV) “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Hebrews 6:18 (NLT) So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV) So shall My word be, that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
This is another aspect of the rhythm of God. “God said … and it was so”. Throughout 2021 stay in this mindset that God cannot and will not lie. If He has said it, it will surely come to pass. If it is taking some time for you to see the fulfilment of His promise, don’t get out of sync. Stay in that mindset and expect God to do it. For it is impossible for God to lie.
GOD SAW AND IT WAS GOOD
Because God is good, and He does what He says he will do, the final outcome of everything God does is not just good but very good. The third aspect of the rhythm of God I’m inviting you to keep to is the faith that everything God does is always good. In the end only good is going to be the outcome of our year if we keep in step with Him.
Moses tells us that God evaluated all that He had done for the day and acknowledged it was good. Again we see that rhythm in Genesis chapter 1 – And God saw that it was good (v4, v10, v12, v18, v21, v25) and finally in v31 “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”
The thing I am inviting you to do this year, is to evaluate your day at the end of everyday. Look for the good that has happened in the day. Something good has happened. You may have missed it. God has been at work. His work is always creative. He has done something good. Look out for it. Search for it at the end of your day and find it. And when you have found the good in that day, acknowledge it and be thankful.
It is worth noting that everyday ends with the phrase “So the evening and the morning were the (first or second or third etc.) day”. God’s day starts in the evening – everyday in the evening to the next evening. HOW YOU END YOUR DAY IS AS IMPORTANT AS HOW YOU BEGIN YOUR DAY – START IT WITH GOD AND END IT WITH GOD.
Psalms 16:7-8 (NLT) I will bless the LORD who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
Go into your night in sync with God and you will wake up in the morning in sync with God. Evaluate the end of everyday and look for the good in the day and recognise that God has been active in your day.
God rested from all His work
The final aspect of the rhythm of God is in chapter 2.
Genesis 2:2-3 (NKJV) And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
The final but equally important aspect of god’s rhythm is the Sabbath rest. Some thoughts about the Sabbath:
Have a Sabbath day
“He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done”. ‘We see a clear rhythm God is calling us into – 6 days work, one day rest. Your week must include a day of rest – where you physically, mentally, spiritually rest from work. What is it that you do that gives your soul rest?
When we talk about the Sabbath it is important that we avoid listening to those who tell you that Sabbath has to be a particular day of the week. For our Jewish friends it is Friday evening to Saturday evening. Some of our Christian friends like those from the Seventh Day Adventists will insist the same. I think it is noble of them to keep a day remembering the Sabbath. I think they do that better than we do. It’s the insistence of a particular day and no other day that I part company with them.
The early church had some logistical problems. The Jews in the congregation would have to go to the synagogues on Sabbath (the seventh day) but the Gentile Christians were not allowed to enter the synagogues and participate in the Sabbath prayers. So the church met the next day (the first day of the week), where Jews and Gentile Christians freely met and worshiped the Lord.
Acts 20:7 (NKJV) Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.
1 Corinthians 16:1-2 (NKJV) Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
By the time John was writing the book of Revelation, he called it the “day of the Lord”.
Revelation 1:10 (NKJV) I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,
So the early church did not insist on keeping the seventh day as the Sabbath. In fact it was the first day of the week, Sunday, that they would gather and break bread together commemorating the resurrection of our Lord which was on the first day of the week.
Not just a Sabbath day; have Sabbath moments
Paul was very clear to avoid the Sabbath becoming legalistic and moved practices into principles:
Colossians 2:16-17 (NKJV) So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Every religious act we do must centre us back to Christ. 17th century theologian Frances Fenelone suggests we have Sabbath moments throughout the day. Take “chance moments “through each day and centre yourself toChrist. Pause, refocus on the One who sustains us. Have Sabbath moments.
So this year – let’s keep in rhythm with God. Stay in sync with Him. He creates perfection in His rhythm.
IN THE BEGINNING GOD – THAT MEANS WE COME TO THIS PLACE IN OUR LIVES WHERE EVERYTHING WE THINK, SAY AND DO HAS IT’S BEGINNINGS WITH GOD
IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED – NOT JUST BELIEVE GOD EXISTS BUT BELIEVE HE IS A GOOD GOD, WITH GOOD THOUGHTS TOWARDS US, AND GOOD PLANS AHEAD FOR US
– START YOUR YEAR WITH THIS. START EVERYDAY WITH THIS, LIVE MOMENT BY MOMENT WITH THIS
– GOD, THIS GOOD GOD IS MY BEGINNING AND MY END
SECONDLY: “GOD SAID AND IT WAS SO” – STAY IN THIS MINDSET THAT GOD CANNOT AND WILL NOT LIE. IF HE HAS SAID IT, IT WILL COME TO PASS. IF IT IS TAKING SOME TIME FOR YOU TO SEE THE FULFILMENT – DON’T GET OUT OF SYNC, STAY IN THAT MINDSET AND EXPECT GOD TO DO IT. FOR IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO LIE.
THE THIRD THING I’M INVITING YOU TO DO THIS YEAR IS TO EVALUATE YOUR DAY AT THE END OF EVERYDAY. HOW YOU END YOUR DAY IS AS IMPORTANT AS HOW YOU BEGIN YOUR DAY – START IT WITH GOD AND END IT WITH GOD. GO INTO YOUR NIGHT IN SYNC WITH GOD AND YOU WILL WAKE UP IN THE MORNING IN SYNC WITH GOD.
THE FINAL BUT EQUALLY IMPORTANT ASPECT OF GOD’S RHYTHM – IS REST. HAVE A SABBATH DAY. YOUR WEEK MUST INCLUDE A DAY OF REST – WHERE YOU PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY, SPIRITUALLY REST FROM WORK. BUT NOT JUST A SABBATH DAY; HAVE SABBATH MOMENTS. THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, TAKE CHANCE MOMENTS TO PAUSE AND FOCUS ON THE ONE WHO CAME TO GIVE US TRUE REST – JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.
I WISH YOU HAPPY NEW YEAR – AND I WISH YOU A YEAR IN RHYTHM WITH GOD. SO THAT WE WILL ALL SEE GOD’S CREATIVE WORK IN OUR LIVES. WE WILL SAY AT THE END OF 2021 – GOD IS SO GOOD, IT IS GOOD, IT IS VERY GOOD.