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.
