Numbers 28:26-31: in context

Among the appointed feasts is the day of firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks. On it, Israel was to bring a new offering from the harvest to the LORD. But before the offerings are listed, one requirement is named: you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no regular work. The day was to be set apart, ordinary labor laid aside, the people gathered together before God. The feast was not only about the offerings brought but about the ceasing of work and the assembling to worship.

It is worth noticing that the feast began with a command to stop working and to gather. You shall do no regular work, and you shall have a holy convocation: the day was set apart from ordinary labor and given to assembling before God. The rhythm of Israel's life included these appointed times when the ordinary work was laid down and the people came together to worship, days marked off from the endless press of labor for the purpose of gathering before the LORD. The feast required not only offerings but the setting aside of work and the coming together of the people. There is wisdom here for us, whose lives are often filled with unceasing work. We can let labor run without pause, treating every day the same, never setting time apart from the ordinary work to gather and worship. God's appointment of holy convocations, days to cease from labor and assemble before him, speaks against this. There is value in setting aside the ordinary work, marking off time from the endless demands of labor, to gather with God's people and worship. The day of rest and assembly is not wasted or idle; it is holy, set apart, a laying down of work for the sake of coming before God together. And this rhythm is commended to us still. Let us not neglect to meet together, Hebrews urges, as some have made a habit, but encourage one another. The gathering of God's people to worship, the setting aside of ordinary work for a holy assembly, is a practice worth keeping. This calls us to guard such times. Do we let work run without pause, never setting time apart to cease from labor and gather before God? Or do we honor the rhythm of holy convocation, marking off time from the ordinary press of work to assemble with God's people and worship? The feast began with the ceasing of work and the coming together; and we too are called to set apart time from our labor, to gather before God, honoring the appointed rhythm of rest and assembly that he built into the life of his people.

Do I let work run without pause, treating every day the same and never setting time apart from ordinary labor to gather and worship, or can I honor the rhythm God built into his people's life, the holy convocation of ceasing from work to assemble before him, guarding the appointed times of rest and gathering rather than letting the endless press of labor crowd them out?