…take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name…Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household. (Deuteronomy 26:2, 10, 11).

In homes with young children, many a refrigerator is adorned with the children's creative work. Parents give crafting material to the children and likely teach them some basic skills. Yet, when the project is complete, the child runs to bring it to their parents, declaring, "Look what I made for you". Together they delight over it.

Could it be that this family ritual is modelled after God's relationship with us? In our text, it is not childish craft projects, but the very work of their hands that the Israelites were to bring before the Lord and rejoice.

We often skim over the Mosaic law, believing that it is all irrelevant to us. Or, to say it more theologically, it is all fulfilled in Christ. This may be true, but there is much here that can nurture our souls. Take a moment to imagine that you are a farmer. You tend your herds. You till your fields; you plant your seeds. Day after day, you watch your flocks grow and your crops develop.

As you watch and tend and nurture, you keep looking for that animal and that crop that is the best, the closest to perfect. You take special care of that animal and crop. That is what you will take with you to worship. That is what you will offer to God. And together with others, you will rejoice over what God has given to you.

We often imagine God with eyes, watching over us. The Israelites also imagined God with nostrils breathing in the aromas of their worship, which was the fruit of their work. Their offerings were a pleasing aroma to him.

Jesus taught us to address God as Father and John teaches that believers in Jesus are children of God. When we think of God as our father, we often think of how God the father gave up his only begotten son for our salvation, and we think of God's fatherly arms comforting us in our pains and sorrows. These are real things that God does.

But the Israelites knew something else about God: he cares about the things we do from day to day. When we do them well, they are a pleasing aroma that he breaths in through his nostrils. God actually cares about the little things we work on.

As you do the little things of life this week, know that God is there watching and waiting. Not to judge, but to delight in you and your work. Don't leave them behind when you come to worship. Bring them along and offer them to him. Rejoice with him, in the good things you bring.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Wherever God takes you today (this week), may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.

Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning's light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes; they rob them of their inheritance. Therefore, the Lord says: "I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves (Micah 2:1-3).

Several times, I have connected coveting with a lack of rest. Today, I draw your attention to another Old Testament passage that makes this connection. A lack of rest does not refer to insomnia, nor, simply to a weekly 'non-work' day. The Bible lays out a more robust understanding of rest. It is a full-bodied trust in God that he will provide and care for us. A trust so deep that we leave behind any desires for sin, enabling us to pursue the righteousness of God's kingdom.

In our text, Micah laments that Israel absolutely refuses to accept this invitation to rest. Instead, those with means—land, money, influence, power—spend their nights plotting how to get more land, money, influence and power. They wake, leaping into action to carry out their plans. Because they already have land, money, influence and power, they have the means to implement their schemes.

These evil schemers accumulate possessions at the expense of others. This is not just a violation of the command to love your neighbour, but also of the command to love God above all else. You see, God had given to each Israelite family land through which he would provide for them. These evil schemers are seizing property God had given to others, leaving these others with nothing. They were thumbing their noses at God.

It's probable that few, if any, of us spend our nights contemplating how to defraud our neighbours. Yet it happens around us. Walter Brueggemann says, "the poetry concerns the entire system that runs roughshod over" those who have less means—less land, less money, less influence, less power (Sabbath as Resistance). This system of coveting is bound to creep into our hearts if we do not take time to rest. Sabbath keeping as I have described it is incredibly important in resisting the influences of the culture in which we live.

Micah adds a warning. God will not stand by and let this continue. He will come in judgement. He will strip those who use their means—land, money, influence, power—for evil purposes. The Lord God will remove their means—land, money, influence, power.

If we are concerned about the "entire system" of our day, let us do two things. One, lean into this profound biblical rest in which we trust in God so that we heed his command, "You shall not covet." And two, pray that God will come and set things right. In the days of our text, he used the Assyrians. They were brutal. Pray that God will use a gentler means to set things right today.

As you journey on, receive Jesus' invitation into this rest:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).

Praise the Lord! He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. Praise the Lord (Psalm 147:1, 19).

Our text says that God has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. There is a back story to this. The Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. What kind of songs were composed on that journey? Psalm 90 might have been.

Think about that trip. Hundreds of thousands of people plus animals. I've walked in that wilderness. There is no food. No crops were planted or harvested. How could all these Israelites survive for 40 years? God fed them. Each day he provided bread! And they lived!

Israel's experience in the wilderness was all about God's provision. Though Israel often forgot this season which fashioned them into a nation, the memory kept resurfacing. God reminded them. Their composers kept referring to it as they sang new songs. God builds His people by providing for them.

Psalm 147 is part of the long tradition embedding this truth in the souls of God's people. What truth? Moses explains, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna…to teach you that people do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:2,3).

And so physical provision became combined with the spiritual provision of God's Word. Isaiah 55:10,11 offers this: "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

So, God's provision is two-fold: physical and spiritual. We learn about one from the other.

But notice this: while in the desert, the Israelites had to gather the food and prepare it before they could eat it. Once in the promised land, they became farmers. Even though they tilled their fields and cared for their flocks, they were to remember that God provided for them.

Likewise, our spiritual food does not simple fall into our hearts. There is work to be done to receive it. The public gathering of God's people for worship has always been an essential means for receiving that food.

How does God provide for you? Our text says, Praise the Lord! He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel (Psalm 147:1, 19). We are not Jacob or Israel. But we are God's church. He offers us His Word. Have we gone out to gather and prepare it, so we can eat? Have we gotten lazy? How hungry are you for God's provision?

How often do we praise God for his spiritual provisions? Do we eagerly reach for it? God provides, so let's eat. And then praise him for the nourishment he has provided.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn.