Tuesday, March 17, 2020
I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. 1 Corinthians 10:1-11
Jesus said the truth will set you free.[1] This week I watched (yet another) broadcast warning
about dangers of the Coronavirus, and the epidemiologist being interviewed was
asked what one thing government could do to help stem the spread of this
disease. His answer was that our government
must be totally transparent with the truth. Perhaps this scientist was quoting Jesus.
Movements, like the Israelites following Moses out of Egypt, are
faith-based, and can come unglued in a hurry; just ask any presidential
candidate who never won the election.
But, what about those which appear to be successful? What about the elections won? What then?
I seem to recall President Bill Clinton uttering that storied
phrase: O’m’gosh…I’m president;
what do I do now? I’m sure he wasn’t
the first president who sensed he was in way over his head. On a personal note, I had that sinking
feeling in the pit of my stomach when I was chosen to serve in my first
pastorate. Mine was…Oh, man, what
are these people thinking? Do they
really think I’m Moses? What will they
do when they find out I’m just like them…trying to find God’s will and serve,
but clueless as to the next step?
The truth…as transparent as it comes…that’s what it’s like for God’s
people who want to be obediently walking by faith. To follow the truth you step out on a lot of
thin air, not knowing, but believing that air is inhabited by God’s Spirit, and
will hold you up.
The apostle Paul warned the Corinthian believers to remember
Moses, the commands of God, and how the early followers of Yahweh messed it up
with distractions like sexual perversity and cultural cravings. There were a lot of bodies strewn all over
the desert wilderness because of wavering faith and wanton disobedience.
What is most important in truth-following comes down to a settledness
without stubbornness.
That means if you want to follow Jesus, the embodiment of truth and
righteousness, you must choose like Joshua:
But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15b
But there cannot be a stubborn cantankerousness about it all; God’s
Spirit won’t hang with immovable, unfeeling, hardened hearts. There are enough of those to go around; God
wants willing, open, and vulnerable hearts.
You chew on
that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
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