Last week Tuesday was a holiday in my country and so I went to the beach.
While soaking in the cool waters I could not help noticing how fresh and clear the water appeared. Only a few people were on the beach that day even though it was a holiday.
This particular beach is a popular tourist destination but there were no tourists on the beach.
All the beach chairs were empty except a few locals including myself who occupied some of the chairs. The sailing boats and catamarans that usually anchored at the beach were absent.
Immediately the thought came to me that the land is at rest.
Similar to humans the land also needs to rest from all the activities and pollution that humans applied to it.
All-year-round the land is been dug, cultivated, and polluted by humans in the name of industrial technology.
The ocean and sea are harvested for food, explored for science and entertainment, sailed for pleasure and transportation.
Even the atmosphere above the earth has been polluted with sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the heavy trafficking of airplanes.
Studies have shown that plane exhaust kills more people than plane crashes.
Suddenly, COVID-19 appeared in November/December 2019 in China and by April 1, 2020, most countries across the globe were under national lockdown.
This means that a twenty-four-hour curfew was instigated in the countries to force every single person except essential workers to remain inside their house.
Every business place that was not categorized as essential was closed. Every school, churches, clubs, shops, and bars were closed. Transportation services, sporting events, and church gatherings ceased.
The streets were devoid of all patrons and vehicles. Even the major cities such as London and New York were empty and desolate.
The entire earth came to a standstill!
The good news is that the earth rested from all the activities and pollutions that have been bombarding it non stop for centuries.
It was never God’s intention for the earth to be working continuously. God created the world and everything within it, including humans, in six divine days.
Then He created the seventh day to rest and fresh.
The Lord also instructed the man to work for six days and rest from his labor on the seventh.
If every single human being on earth strictly adheres to this rule then the earth will automatically be at rest on the seventh day.
Furthermore, the Lord recommended that the land is sowed for six years but on the seventh year it should not be cultivated but allow to lie still and rest (See Exodus 23:10-12; Leviticus 25:1-4)
However, greed and the insatiable thirst for wealth and power threw these rules out the window.
Thus for over four thousand years after the great flood in the days of Noah, the earth has been continuously working non-stop to provide food, shelter, clothing, and technological resources for humanity.
What happens when you do not rest?
Lack of rest in humans results in exhaustion, dysfunctionality, mental and physical illnesses, and death.
Likewise, when the land does not rest the nutrients in the soil will be depleted. Lack of nutritious soil will produce food with fewer nutrients.
What happens when you get adequate rest?
When your body rested, your immune system will get stronger thus allowing your body to naturally fight diseases.
A restful body reduces stress, lower your blood pressure, improves your memory, and improves your overall well being.
Agricultural land that is allowed to rest or fallow will allow the soil to replenish the nutrients. Thus farmers will save money from fertilizers and irrigation.
When the soil is at rest the potassium and phosphorus that lie deep in the ground will rise to the surface to benefit the crops that will be planted later.
Other benefits to the soil are that organic material will be broken down to increase the level of nitrogen, carbon, and microorganisms that are beneficial to the soil.
Overall, studies have shown that when the land is rested for at least a year it will yield a larger amount of crop when it is planted.
Looking at it from a broader perspective, the earth at rest will result in cleaner atmospheric air, less polluted sea and land, less wastage, decrease noise pollution, and will result in less natural disasters.
COVID-19 attacked the world and produced stress and fear. However, there was good in the pandemic and best of all the earth rested and refreshed.
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:11)
A rested earth is a blessed earth!
References
Becoming the Oil and Wine 
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