“He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
There was a very good article in yesterday’s New York Times Week in Review section. The CEO of the company 37Signals (you’d more likely know them by the collaborative project management software, “Basecamp”) explained how at his company they use the calendar seasons to change up the way people work. From May-October they go down to 32 hours a week. One of the summer months is entirely dedicated to allowing people to work on innovation and new ideas they might have. By following the seasons of the year, his company changes and in his estimation, improves annually. Understanding what is favorable timing for our companies is something that we don’t consider enough. Seasonality is common, but allowing the company to rest and ready for the peaks is not so common. Typically, we push through from season to season with very little change and without some type of pacing and shifting, then we run the risk of never finding favorable timing.
Jesus came to give us all favorable timing. He did this by proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor. This proclamation followed the Old Testament Jubilee Years, which was anticipated and celebrated each 70 years. Jesus rolled all of those together for us to provide us freedom and liberty in our lives at any time that we choose to allow Him. As we start this week, we probably all could use some favorable timing. Let’s find that favor by leaning into what God wants from us and listen closely to what we are supposed to hear. We can find our favorable timing by trusting on His timing and favor.
Reference: Luke 4:18-19 (English Standard Version)