“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.
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dig deeper into today’s topic or Scripture text: Aside
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[1] Images: Pixabay.com Unless
noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
