*Article updated March 25th to reflect 2020 dates

The Biblical New Year starts this Wednesday evening with the first NEW MOON.

The new moon – when the moon is HIDDEN and the stars shine ever more brightly – is the beginning of a new lunar year according to the Bible. Fourteen days later, when the moon is full, the first and MOST Holy Day of the Biblical year is Passover.

In Judaism, and even more so for believers in His only begotten Son, the first of the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20 begins with, “I am ADONAI your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Did you ever imagine that the God of the Universe would demand that we let Him be our God by allowing Him to schedule our time and space? That is one of the amazing and often overlooked messages of the Bible. God orders the entire universe, and He wants you to trust Him with your time. He created night to rest and day to work. He made our bodies to work for six days and to rest for one day, and He demands that we REST! By resting we show we trust Him because we have a loving relationship with our Creator, and we were NOT created to be enslaved but free.

That is why celebrating Passover acknowledges both freedom from slavery AND the beginning of living a life to honor our Creator by trusting Him and enjoying the fullness of His Creation.

Stewarding Our Time Biblically

The Bible shows us how to manage our time – daily, weekly, monthly and seasonally. In fact, let me clear something up for you! God is NOT trying to make your life more complicated! God has made time easy to understand. Two-by-two doesn’t just apply to the animals God saved on Noah’s Ark, God uses two-by-two for managing time! Just like the earth revolves around the sun, the moon and stars are moving, too. The moon appearing and disappearing, waxing and waning, is the monthly cycle. To count them becomes a yearly cycle. And, like the 12 tribes of Israel multiplied Joseph’s tribe into two more, the lunar calendar of twelve months has the last month double periodically. Now, CAREFUL, we do not believe the ‘heavenly bodies’ have power, nor do we ever worship them!

But, just like we bless God in the morning for the rising of the Son of Righteousness – YESHUA – so we must acknowledge that marking time Biblically by resting when commanded is WORSHIP. Taking one day off in seven as a SHABBAT rest honors God. Now, imagine why God would ask us to celebrate a new moon? What happens monthly on the earth? Monthly cycles are how humans are given the gift of creating children! The first day of the lunar month, when the sky is dark and full of stars, is the best time to have fathers take their children outside and look up to the Creator of the Heavens and share the stories of God’s goodness – HIS INCREASE – in our lives. Isn’t that what Abraham did? Monthly community celebrations are heralded with silver trumpets in the Bible!

This 1^st New Moon, also known as Rosh Chodashim – The Head of Months, gives us two weeks exactly before we celebrate the SPRING Holy Days of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then the First Fruits at the Feast of Weeks.

Making Rosh Chodesh Meaningful

Please take the time to read as Brittni, my son’s wife, shares her insights about how special Rosh Chodesh can be. She talks about how radically important work-life balance is to today’s young moms. Please share Brittni’s blog about how she discovered the amazing blessing of Rosh Chodesh for their young family. This is such a sacred time for dads to minister to their children, too!

So, please find a friend to celebrate this 1^st New Moon of the year with us – not to worship the moon – but to worship the GOD who created the moon! •

Seed-Time Special

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