Wednesday, July 20, 2022

When You Live in the Land the Lord Your God Gives You


Wednesday, July 20, 2022

“These are the decrees and regulations you must be careful to obey when you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.  You must obey them as long as you live.  “When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods—high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree.  Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars.  Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols.  Completely erase the names of their gods!  “Do not worship the Lord your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods.  Rather, you must seek the Lord your God at the place of worship he himself will choose from among all the tribes—the place where his name will be honored.  There you will bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your herds and flocks.  There you and your families will feast in the presence of the Lord your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because the Lord your God has blessed you.  “Your pattern of worship will change.  Today all of you are doing as you please, because you have not yet arrived at the place of rest, the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.  But you will soon cross the Jordan River and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you.  When he gives you rest from all your enemies and you’re living safely in the land, you must bring everything I command you—your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, and your offerings to fulfill a vow—to the designated place of worship, the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored.  “You must celebrate there in the presence of the Lord your God with your sons and daughters and all your servants.  And remember to include the Levites who live in your towns, for they will receive no allotment of land among you.  Deuteronomy 12:1-12

Giving-up okra…whether fried, stewed, or covered with any number of culinary disguises, prepared by amateur, or world-renowned chef, was never an issue for me; I despise being in the same county with the stuff.  On the other hand, if you are the doctor who said I had to give up coffee….we might be in World War III. 

When it comes to giving up what we like, harmful to our body, mind, or soul, It’s a matter of deciding if the exchange is worth it.  (Okra wasn’t a hard call to make).

Okra is small-change compared to Heaven and knowing Jesus.  But if you are talking about giving up a twelve-million dollar mansion, yacht, fleet of Rolls Royce, Corvette, Mercedes, and the lifestyle that goes with such, in favor of living with the leper colony, becoming a Christian might give one pause to consider.  That was the rub with Moses’ crew in the wilderness.  Every one of them was doing what they wanted.  But crossing over Jordan and entering the land the Lord was giving them meant change…rules…giving up the past for the future.  Make no mistake, that was going to require some thought…it was no small change!

Fact is…it still isn’t a small thing.  Until maybe you get a little older, a little more creaky in the morning, visit the doctor’s office endlessly.  The idea of climbing in a two-seater sports car isn’t done on the fly anymore…such folding-up of ancient bones takes planning.  And the only four-letter word that comes to mind is r-e-s-t.

And the whole thing begins to make sense; the REST our Heavenly Father promised is the place you’ve been seeking and courting all those years, a place where expectations boil down to a clear conscience, and being loved.  In reflection you know, deep-down, beyond distrust, His place is not only better than anything you imagined…it’s worth putting everything else behind you.

For You Today

If chasing rainbows, faster rides, more fantastic highs, and bright shining things is starting to dim, slow, fade, wane, or otherwise disappear…look up…the crossing of Jordan, that place of rest might be near.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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To dig deeper into today’s topic or Scripture text:  Aside  and Isaiah Never Went to Annual Conference

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©   

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