IronGuys Law Enforcement Ministries
"WORDS OF WISDOM"
By Police Chaplains
"Ripening Takes Time"
By
Dave Yard
Longtime Oklahoma Supporter of the Law Enforcement Community
Leviticus 23:15–16 (KJV)
“You shall count seven full weeks… even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days… and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.”
There is something deeply intentional about God asking His people to count.
Day by day, step by step, Israel was taught to live between redemption and fulfillment. Passover marked their deliverance by blood; Shavuot [Feast of Weeks] marked the giving of God’s gift. And in between, there was waiting—measured, deliberate, expectant waiting.
The counting of the omer was not about numbers. It was about preparation. Each evening jews prayed: You are not where you were, and you are not yet where you will be.
This same rhythm finds its fulfillment in Pentecost. After the greater Passover Lamb—Jesus Christ—was sacrificed, He did not immediately send His Spirit. There were days of appearing, teaching, and reminding. Then came waiting. Then came power.
God does not rush His gifts. He prepares His people to receive them.
The grain imagery is no accident. A sheaf must be cut, gathered, and offered before the harvest comes in full. So Christ rose as the first fruits, and then His people—like grains of wheat—were gathered and filled with life from above. What began with a small band of fearful disciples became a harvest that has reached the ends of the earth.
And still, the principle remains: we live in the counting:
...Between promise and fulfillment.
...Between salvation accomplished and glory revealed.
...Between the cross and the final harvest.
Do not despise the days that feel like waiting. God is doing His quiet work there—ordering your steps, deepening your hunger, preparing your heart.
“The Christian life is lived between two great acts of God—the finished work of Christ and the promised glory to come—and faith learns to number the days in hope.” —Adapted in the spirit of A. W. Tozer, Augustine of Hippo, John Stott