Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Coming Home

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

“Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you.  If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.  You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed.  For the Lord will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive.  There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.  But from there you will search again for the Lord your God.  And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.  “In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what he tells you.  For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.  Deuteronomy 4:26-31(NLT)

When Moses realized his time leading the nation of Israel was done he gathered them together to share his final words of caution and encouragement.  Last words are important words, because they are words of wisdom gained from years of mistakes and successes; these words have been seasoned by time. 
When we pay attention to last words in light of the way that person’s life was lived, we can learn something valuable for the life which we still have to live.  For the nation of Israel that meant understanding Moses knew something about realizing when you’ve slipped off the wagon and how to come home again.
Moses had spent enough time falling off the wagon.  Born to royal privilege, he became a murderer, conspirator, and someone who ran from his responsibilities.  Moses was a big disappointment in his early days.  But spending 40 years as a fugitive and a nobody shepherd on the back side of nowhere had taught him to get his life in line with God’s will.  When the time came at the burning bush, Moses was finally in a position to listen to Yahweh and put some of that wisdom to Kingdom use. 
Moses came home to his royal destiny.  It was not as Pharaoh over Egypt, but as the father of a new nation; slaves were transformed into servants of the Most High God.  And Moses was their leader – a wise man who knew how to lead by the Spirit of God, and take the children of God to the Promised Land of God.
Fast Forward about 3,700 years and you will find God’s children still in need of wisdom and courage to follow God.  But the most pressing need is to know what Moses knew; when you’ve slipped off the God-wagon, there is nothing more pressing or right than to come back home.
I have seen it time and again; at the end of a worship service someone will take me by the arm and ask me to pray for them.  Or even before a service is past the call to worship I notice the downcast look of a Prodigal, the tear of a brokenhearted saint, previously on fire for Christ, but, of late a Christian soldier who is AWOL, absent in the ranks of Christ’s spiritual warriors.  The need is felt by that overwhelming absence – a Jesus-shaped hole on the inside; where once there was joy, now there is darkness.  And remembering the joy, they want to find their way home.
Moses told Israel that would happen to them.  And he told them when it did happen, just come on home.  Your God is merciful; Yahweh has not forgotten his covenant promises.
It is still that way; Jesus made sure we heard that right:

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30(NLT)

For You Today
If you have that emptiness that is like a Jesus-shaped hole on the inside, and it’s been awhile since you walked with Him, remember coming home will always find the arms of our Lord open wide; remember also that the first step is always yours.
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

Go to VIDEO


[1] Title Image: Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

No comments:

Post a Comment