Conquest day 4

 We tend to think of the priests stepping into the Jordan River like going to the beach and tiptoeing your way down to the water’s edge, inching closer and closer, maintaining balance the whole time. 

In reality, while the Jordan River isn’t very wide or very deep, there isn’t really a good place to get down close to the water without just jumping in. 

And that was sort of the point. When God told the priests to step into the river, He made it clear that the water wasn’t going to stop flowing until they went all in. 

There are times in life when we know clearly what God’s will is. It may not happen all the time, it may not even be a frequent occurrence. But there are times when there’s little mystery about what God would have us do. Yet even in those times, there are frequently obstacles in our path, difficulties that must be overcome, in order for us to accomplish what we know to be the clearly communicated will of God. 

How do you respond in those times? Too many of us respond by saying, “Okay, God. I know what You want me to do, but there’s this obstacle here. You remove the obstacle, and I’ll do what You’re calling me to do.” 

Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? 

More often than not, however, just like in the Bible, God says, “You take a step first.” 

In other words, God will take care of a lot of the obstacles in our paths, but He usually waits for us to take a step of faith before He does. This is part of the astonishing humility of God. Sometimes He actually lets us lead. 

One step and the obstacles vanish, more completely and more brilliantly than you ever imagined. But there is that matter of the first step. There is that matter of whether or not you are willing to go all-in, not easing your way into things, but jumping headlong into the thick of difficulties in order to get what God has promised. 

The people of God, gathered at the edge of the Jordan River, needed a leader. They desperately needed someone who would step forward and say, “Let’s go.” There were plenty of people in the crowd willing to move, but did anyone want to be first? They needed a push, a prod, a person willing to show them how it was done. 

God’s people still need leaders, people willing to step up and step out and show us how it’s done. What are you doing standing around on the bank? Jump in and see what God does! 

 Lord, I thank You that You have created me in Your image and have given me the dignity of being capable of moral choices that genuinely affect my journey and destiny. By Your grace, may I exercise this moral and spiritual capacity by taking the steps of faith, especially in times when my flesh resists this process and when fears prevent me from trusting You. I realise that there are times in my life when You ask me to make the first step, because You don’t want to force me into obedience but desire my willing cooperation with Your glorious intentions. I recognise that without You I cannot, but without me You will not. May I strengthen my resolve to be Your loving servant and child so that I will pursue the course You have set before me in spite of my fears and natural resistance. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Conquest day3

 If the stakes are high enough, just about anyone will do just about anything at just about any given time. How else can you explain why people do such foolish things? Or such difficult things? Or such risky things? 

If a person is hungry enough, he will go to great lengths, take tremendous risks, even be willing to break the law in order to find food. 

Why would a person get up before dawn, pull on her shoes, a T-shirt and a pair of shorts to go jogging? 

Why would a person stay up late studying when it would be so much easier to eat ice cream while watching Match of the Day? 

People have to want something pretty badly to endure physical or mental distress to get it. They have to value something more highly than comfort. 

This is why people get up early, stay up late, put in the extra effort, go without. There is something for which they are willing to pay a price. If it is something desirable enough, they are willing to pay a very steep price, and they do so gladly. 

Why? Because the stakes are high enough. 

It seems silly, laughable even, that people are willing to make such great sacrifices and pay such high prices to do things like climb mountains or run races when we are simultaneously unwilling to do much of anything to claim the abundant life God has made available for us. God offers us a life of freedom, a life of adventure, a life of security, a life with no regret or anxiety. Will there be pain involved? Of course! But anything worthwhile is costly. If you devote yourself to the relentless pursuit of whatever God has in store for you, it will require huge risk and an alarming level of sacrifice. 

What in the world could motivate the Israelites to step into a rushing river? Why would they be willing to march around the fortified walls of a hostile enemy city with nothing but trumpets in their hands? 

What in the world could motivate people to give money away when it would be easier to spend it on themselves? What would cause a person to get up early and volunteer to help someone they’ve never met? What inspires people to forgive, to serve, to turn the other cheek, to sell everything and move halfway around the world to dig wells or teach children to read? 

Maybe we’ve come to a place where we value our comfort and security more than we really value the calling of God in our lives. But we don’t have to stay here. In fact, we cannot stay here and go with God over the difficult barrier into the land of His promise.

 

God, I ask that I would experience a growing desire for You and for the things You declare to be important. I also ask that this living desire would express itself in an ever-increasing willingness to take the risks of faith so that I would honour You by treasuring Your will for my life. I want to discipline myself for the sake of Christlikeness so that I will run the holy race with endurance and fight the good fight in Your strength. I acknowledge that this life is no game, that the stakes are eternal. I recognize that there is a cost of discipleship and that spiritual formation does not come naturally. May I be dependent on Your promises and provision so that I will honour You through the risks and price of obedience.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Sarah

 Sarah sat at the entrance of her tent, dusting flour off her hands. Her tired joints creaked so loudly that she thought her husband’s surprise guests might hear them all the way under the tree where they sat eating the meal she’d hastily prepared.  Sarah’s husband, Abraham, stood near the three men, pouring fresh milk into their cups, passing them meat and bread and yoghurt. Sarah had no idea where the men had come from or why they’d chosen to visit Abraham’s camp today, but it was clear from the way he was acting that he thought they were important. He’d greeted them by bowing down to the ground, then dashed back to the tent. “Quick!” he’d gasped to Sarah. “Take some of your best flour and make bread!” Then he rushed off, servants running after him, to prepare the rest of the meal. 

Fanning her sweaty brow with a hand, Sarah stretched out her aching legs. She was getting too old for hurried baking and surprised company. Sometimes it felt like she was getting too old for anything. There had been a time when life had felt full of hope and she’d believed that she and Abraham were destined for greatness, when the things he whispered to her in their tent at night, the promises God had made to him, to both of them, of more descendants than the stars, seemed to fill the whole world with joyful laughter. God had even changed their names from Abram and Sarai as a symbol of the special relationship they had with Him. But many, many years had passed with no signs of God’s promises coming true, and now Sarah felt like if the world laughed, it was because it was making fun of her. 

“. . . Sarah, your wife?” Sarah sat up straight and leaned toward the tent’s entrance. One of the strangers had said her name! She held her breath, straining to hear. 

“She’s there, inside the tent,” Abraham said. 

“I will come back and see you again this time next year,” the stranger said. 

His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried to Sarah’s ears. It seemed like even the birds and insects had fallen silent to listen. “When I come back,” the stranger continued, “Sarah will have a son!”

She gasped. Month after month of her life had come and gone with no sign of a pregnancy. Sarah had counted wrinkle after wrinkle, grey hair after grey hair. Parts of her body that used to be full and firm and flexible had gotten baggy and soft and stiff. 

She’d kept the faith for years, believing God’s promise for Abraham’s sake when she couldn’t for her own. Fifteen years ago, she’d thought she’d had the answer when she’d given her slave Hagar to Abraham as a servant-wife and their son, Ishmael, had been born. She’d thought she could raise Ishmael as her own and build a family that way. But that plan had turned out to be a disaster. And Abraham kept insisting that God still meant for her, Sarah, to have a son of her own. 

Now a stranger was sitting under their tree saying the same thing. Speaking as if with God’s very own mouth. Promising she’d be pregnant within just a few months. Did she dare to hope again? 

The midday sun beat down, shimmering on the desert dust. The jagged rocks and stunted trees seemed to be mocking Sarah. This land is barren, the birds seemed to squawk. Just like you. Long years of shame and disappointment welled up in Sarah’s throat and escaped in a sarcastic huff of laughter. The joy of a child isn’t for a worn-out bag like me, or an old man like my husband, she thought. I won’t be made a fool of again.

“What?” The amazement in the stranger’s voice interrupted Sarah’s bitter thoughts. An incredulous chuckle ran through his words. “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say to herself, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Sarah's heart pounded. Who was this man, who spoke for God and read her secret thoughts? Fear clawed at her stomach. “I didn’t laugh.” She forced the words through dry lips.

“You did laugh.” The stranger laid her bare, but strangely, Sarah no longer felt afraid. She felt seen and known and loved. And for the first time in many, many years, she felt something begin to grow in her heart, like a tiny green shoot uncurling in the midst of the desert. It felt like hope.

 

Rebekah

 Rebekah admired the rose-gold sky as she made her way to the well outside town, expertly balancing her water jug on her shoulder. She smiled and waved to her friends and neighbours, pausing now and then to share a greeting, some news, or a funny story from her day. A cool breeze blew as the sun sank, a welcome change from the heat of the day. 

It seemed unusually quiet as Rebekah got close to the well. The women often lingered for a few moments after they filled their jugs, visiting with friends before returning home to evening chores, but today the usual chatter was softer, a buzz of whispers. A stranger stood near the well, ten camels waiting behind him. Rebekah stared. Camels were rare and expensive. The stranger was well dressed, but his clothes didn’t look like those of a man rich enough to own ten camels. He was probably the trusted servant of an extremely wealthy man. 

The stranger looked intently at the women drawing water as if he were searching for someone. Could he be a friend or relative of one of Rebekah’s neighbours? Who among her friends might be connected to such a person? And why would he be looking for her at the well instead of going to her home and greeting her parents? 

Rebekah walked to the well, stealing glances at the stranger from the corner of her eye. The camels groaned and growled, making some of the women jump. Rebekah looked over at the man again, he was looking back at her! She quickly looked away, her cheeks heating. What could the stranger want with her? 

Rebekah filled her jug and turned toward home. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her and whirled around, heart pounding. The stranger was standing right in front of her. She could hear the whispers of the other women all around her. 

“May I please have some water from your jug?” the man asked.

As strange as the situation was, Rebekah had been taught that it was important to be generous to strangers. “Of course, sir,” she said, lowering the jug from her shoulder and holding it out to him. “Have as much as you’d like.” 

The man gulped water eagerly. His clothes and sandals were coated in dust. He must have come a long way. Rebekah peered at the camels. Some of them stood, heads drooping, while others had knelt, their long necks stretched out along the ground. She knew camels could drink a lot of water, many times what her jug could hold, but the poor animals looked so thirsty. She turned back to the man. “I’ll get water for your camels too.” 

She dumped what was left in her jug into a water trough nearby and ran back to the well to refill it. She poured the water into the trough and went back to the well again. The camels crowded around, greedily sucking at the water, then raising their heads and shaking water droplets all over each other and Rebekah. It took many, many, many trips back and forth from the well to the trough before all the camels had drunk their fill. The sun was barely visible above the horizon and most of the other women had already gone home. Rebekah’s parents and brothers would be wondering what was taking her so long. Her whole body was trembling with exhaustion, and she was damp and covered with dust and camel hair. She dragged herself back to the well one last time to get water to take home. 

She turned from the well, wearily lifting the jug to her shoulder, to find the stranger standing near her again, a wide smile on his face and gold gleaming in his hands. He thanked her and handed her the jewellery, two bracelets and a nose ring, finer than anything she’d ever owned. His master was surely very rich for him to give such an expensive gift as thanks for a few jars of water! She slipped the bracelets onto her wrists and fastened the ring in her nose, glancing down at the jug to try to catch a glimpse of her reflection in the water. The stranger gave her a fatherly smile. “Who are your parents?” he asked. “And might you have room for a guest?” 

“My father is Bethuel, the son of Nahor and Milcah,” she answered. “And yes, we have plenty of room. I will go and tell my family you are here.” 

Rebekah raced home, the gold heavy and unfamiliar on her wrists and nose. Her brother, Laban, took one look at the jewellery and barely waited to hear what Rebekah had to say before racing to bring the wealthy stranger back to the house. Rebekah’s family prepared a feast for their guest, but before he ate he insisted on telling them about his mission to find a wife for his master’s son. The family was amazed to hear that the man’s master was Abraham, Rebekah’s great-uncle! 

“God has shown unfailing love and faithfulness to my master all his life,” the servant said. “He has given him great wealth and a son in his old age. And God has shown his faithfulness again today by leading me straight to Abraham’s family to find a wife for his son, Isaac. Will you also show unfailing love and faithfulness to your relative by allowing me to take Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife?” 

Rebekah caught her breath. Was she willing to leave behind everyone and everything she’d ever known to marry a stranger? But she couldn’t stop thinking about this God her great-uncle had left his family and home and gods to follow, a faithful God who didn’t go back on his promises and cared for humans like they were his own children. 

“It’s obvious God has led you here,” Rebekah’s father said to the man. Her brother nodded. “Rebekah should be Isaac’s wife.” Abraham’s servant bowed down to the ground and thanked his God. He gave Rebekah and her family even more expensive gifts, and then they finally ate. 

When the family woke up the next day, Abraham’s servant had already been busy for a long time, getting ready to go. Her brother and mother asked him to stay longer, but the man was determined to leave right away. So they called Rebekah and asked, “Are you willing to go with this man now?” 

Rebekah looked at her mother and brother and at all the familiar objects in her home. She looked at the stranger who was waiting for her to decide whether she would leave all of it behind forever, right now. 

“I will go,” she replied. She would show faithful love to her relatives and to her future husband. And deep in her heart, she hoped and believed that their God would show his faithful love to her too.

Conquest day 2

 Here they stood, poised on the edge of their destiny. Before them they could see the land God had promised so long ago, the land they’d left Egypt for, the land that had taken so long and cost so many lives to reach. 

But there was a barrier standing between them and the land, a river at flood stage. 

The Jordan River starts at the foot of Mt. Hermon, nearly 9,000 feet above sea level. It ends about 90 miles later at the Dead Sea, which is about 1,400 feet below sea level. This makes it one of the fastest-flowing rivers of its size. It runs fast normally, but at flood stage it poses a serious threat to anyone needing to get to the other side. 

How would they get across? 

For the people who lived in Canaan, the Jordan River wasn’t an obstacle, it was a shield. They believed that one of their gods was in control of that body of water and had brought the river to such a high level in order to protect them from any invaders. 

Just like God had done in Egypt, when He used the plagues to topple the pantheon of Egyptian gods, He would now take on the Canaanite god of the river. When He divided the rushing waters of the Jordan River, He was serving notice, both to the inhabitants of the land and to His own Chosen People. I AM not just the God of the wilderness, not just the God who brings water from a rock or manna in the desert; I AM God of everything and everywhere. There is nothing that is beyond My ability to control. 

Many of the peoples the Israelites would encounter in Canaan believed in regional or limited gods. They believed there was one god in charge of the harvest and another god in charge of the weather. One god helped you have children, another helped you get well if you’d been sick. 

YHWH doesn’t work like that. He’s God of everything. He’s the same God of the mountains and the sea, the harvest and your health. 

Living in that knowledge would be a continual problem for His people. Throughout the Bible, we read that the greatest temptation is not to reject YHWH altogether but to simply add Him to a list of other gods, to worship Him alongside Baal or Asherah or Molech. Let YHWH handle some things, let the other gods handle other things. 

In our society, we may not have little statues or funny names for other gods. But we’re probably just as guilty as they were of thinking that God is only in charge of some things, not everything. Maybe we’ll trust God with our eternity, but we’ll handle things between now and then. Maybe we’ll trust Him with our Sundays, but we’ll take care of Monday through Saturday. 

Let God handle “spiritual” areas. Spiritual areas are, after all, priceless. For everything else, there’s Mastercard, right? 

God wants to be the Lord of your job and your family, how you spend your money, what you watch on television and what you listen to on your iPhone. This is how it’s going to be with YHWH. He’s either God of everything, or He’s God of nothing. 

 

O Lord, why do I trust You in some areas of my life, but look for other resources when I need help in other areas? How is it possible for me to trust You for my eternal destiny and then look to the world for everything else? Please deliver me from the disease of compartmentalisation, in which I merely make You one component of my life and put other things like my work, my family and my friends in other compartments. Give me the faith to truly believe that You alone must occupy the centre of my being, my aspirations, my hope, my purpose, my everything. Then I will see other things from an eternal perspective and realise that everything comes from You and is for You. I want to recommit myself to the lordship of Christ in each sphere of my existence and enjoy the holy release of desiring the one thing that is needed above everything else. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Conquest day1

 JOSHUA 1–6 

How long had it been since the last time they stood there, gazing across the border into the land that would be their new home? Thirty-eight years of wandering, burying their friends in the wilderness, dozens of them every day. Those had been the most depressing years of Joshua’s life. 

At least Joshua had his mentor, Moses. 

When everything seemed crazy and out of control, when doubts began to creep in and displace hope, Moses’ rock-solid presence was there to comfort and stabilise. 

But Moses wouldn’t allow Joshua to go with him on his last trip up Mount Nebo. And Joshua knew why. Moses wouldn’t be coming back. He had died up there, and God had buried him in an unknown grave. It was all up to Joshua now. He was the leader. It would be up to him to take these desert wanderers and turn them into city-dwellers. 

How exactly would they do it? How would they finally take hold of what was promised to their forefather Abraham all those hundreds of years ago? Would it be through brute force? Would it be through clever tactics and superior strategy? 

Not exactly. 

The first obstacle that stood between the people and their land was this river, this Jordan River. It was at flood stage and had overrun its banks. There was no good place for three million people to cross. How could they invade the fortified cities of Canaan if they couldn’t even get across the river that marked its boundaries? 

In a scene that must have been meant to remind them of their crossing the Red Sea, God commanded the people to cross the river, promising to stop the water as soon as their feet touched the surface. And it happened. They’d heard stories from their now-deceased parents about stuff like this. They’d witnessed God’s protection and provision in the desert, but perhaps they wondered if He was, like so many of the pagan gods, bound by geography. 

No, the God of the desert would be the God of their new home as well. He could bring water from rocks and form dry land in the middle of a rushing river. 

And that’s not all. 

They soon found that He could bring down walls without them ever having to lift a finger. Let’s face it. Marching around a city like Jericho, shouting and blowing trumpets, isn’t a very good military strategy unless you have an all-powerful God on your side. Then (and only then) it makes perfect sense! 

And that was the whole point. The children of Israel didn’t need to worry about the normal things: numbers, size, strength. They just had to follow this God who has stubbornly refused to abandon them, even in their whining and fear and disobedience. 

It’s a good thing we’ve learned that lesson and never worry about silly, trivial things anymore. 

Oh, wait …

Dear Father, there have been many times when I have wandered in the wilderness of disbelief, murmuring and rebellion, wondering indeed if You really have my best interests at heart. I know that I make life far more difficult when I question Your purposes and resist what would, in the end, be the smoother and simpler course. Sin against You complicates and confuses my life, and only leads to pain and regret in the end. Please give me the gift of Your wisdom and grace to think biblically in these moments of doubting Your goodness and provision, so that by Your power, I will turn fear into faith. Then I will be increasingly liberated from the oppressive weight of circumstances and view my situation in light of Your perfect character. I desire to grow in faith, hope and love and to cling firmly to Your loving purposes.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Promised land day 4

God could have taken His people right to Canaan and sent all the inhabitants of the land out on His own. It was a 200-mile walk from Egypt to the Jordan River. They could have covered that in just a couple of weeks. 

Instead of going northeast toward the Jordan, however, the pillar of fire and smoke, the symbol of God’s presence, leads the people south. 

Q. Did God just take a wrong turn? 

A. Depends on where you’re heading. 

From our perspective, we think God must have taken a wrong turn, because we think the ultimate destination is Canaan. But, remember, God is far less interested in where His people end up as He is in who they are when they get there. 

So God uses the wilderness to train His people, to test them and grow them up. And this is what He’s ultimately after, this is His purpose, this is success for His people. Will they trust Him, even when it doesn’t quite make sense? 

That’s the definition of a mature follower of God: someone who trusts God, who walks in obedience, even when it doesn’t quite make sense from a practical, earth-bound perspective. 

Will you follow Me south, even when you know Canaan is northwest? 

Will you walk around the city walls instead of attacking it? 

Will you be generous even when resources are scarce? 

Will you be sexually pure even if no one else will? 

Will you do what I ask you to do if for no other reason than it is I who am asking? 

Will you trust Me? 

That’s the essence of faith, choosing to believe and act accordingly in spite of our feelings or experiences to the contrary. Faith is not the absence of fear as much as it is the unwillingness to allow fear to keep us from obeying God’s clear command. 

Of course, God isn’t asking us for a blind leap of faith. He’s given us an overwhelming number of reasons why trusting Him makes good sense. He’s got an amazing track record of faithfulness and promise keeping. But He’s not going to force you into something. He didn’t force the people to take the land. They said they’d rather die in the wilderness, so He let them have what they said they wanted. He won’t force you to live a holy, generous, pure life. 

If you want to miss your real purpose, your true calling, if you would rather die in safety than live the adventurous life your heart really longs for, He’ll let you do that. But can you think of anything sadder than a person wandering aimlessly for years and years, just passing the time, waiting to die? 

Maybe the only thing sadder would be for a whole group of people, say, a group of God’s people like, maybe, a church, to do that. 

It happens all the time, but it doesn’t have to. And you can break the cycle today by simply choosing to, in the words of an old hymn, trust and obey. 

Lord God, as I read the stories of the Bible, I see again and again that You call Your people to do things that, at the time, don’t seem to make sense. I also realise that the reason Your will didn’t make sense to Your people is that their vision was limited, they couldn’t see the ends You had in mind. Show me in my mind and heart that I cannot know what my best interest really looks like, because I would need to know the future, and only You know that. Because my own perspective is limited, may I learn to trust You and do what You tell me, because it will always work out to my greater good. Then trust will overcome fear, and I will risk everything on Your character and live into the purposes You have ordained for me. As I embrace a biblical perspective, may it change my priorities and my practice. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Promised land day 3

 The story of the 12 spies being sent into Canaan is one of the most well-known and instructive stories of the Old Testament. But our understanding of it will be incomplete without a little background information. 

Two chapters earlier, we read something that sets us up for greater understanding. According to Numbers 11.1, “The people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord.” 

Of course, this was not the first time they’d complained. That started early, before they even got to Mount Sinai. They complained about the water. Then they complained about the food. God got their attention by sending fresh water and manna. Then He really got their attention by shaking a mountain with His voice and giving Moses the Law. 

But now they’re back at it again. Manna isn’t good enough, they want meat. Their incessant whining begins to wear on Moses, so he takes to complaining, too. 

God is still merciful and gracious in His provision, though He may seem, at first glance, a little passive-aggressive about it. He sends them meat, but listen to what He says, “You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it”. (Num 11.19-20)

Here’s why I’m bringing this up, it’s hard to scare people who are filled with gratitude for the blessings they have. If they had spent as much time thanking God for what they had as they did complaining to Him about what they lacked, they would have been less likely to believe the bad report brought back by the majority of the spies. 

Gratitude is linked to hope. Gratitude remembers how God delivers on His promises. Gratitude thinks about how God brought them out of slavery, provided water in the desert, and provided manna faithfully every morning. 

Their discontent made them almost incapable of believing that God would help them gain possession of the Promised Land. No matter what God gave them, freedom from slavery, supernatural guidance, the civilizing effects of the Ten Commandments, food, water, hope and a future, it was never enough. Discontentment, complaint, ingratitude, these are the real killers of God’s people. Long before the spies brought back a faithless report, the Israelites had imbibed the toxic spirit of grumbling against God and against His appointed leader. 

You are created in God’s image. You have a body that probably works most of the time. You have a heart that beats and lungs that breathe, and likely eyes that see and ears that hear. You have a God who loves you and has adopted you into His family. You have a future home with Him forever, guaranteed. You have access to God’s Word, God’s Family, God’s Future. You have been given gifts that can be used in eternally significant ways. Even when you mess up, God loves you and accepts you anyway. 

Value what you have. Even more than that, value the God who gave you all that you have. Give thanks to Him for life and breath and food and water and warmth and the means by which you are able to read this blog. 

You do that, and it’ll be harder for you to believe a bad report when one comes along. 

Father, I acknowledge that I often approach life with a deficiency rather than a sufficiency point of view. I realise that when I fail to acknowledge Your many tender mercies, I lose my joy and contentment and slip into ingratitude. Help me to see that when I grumble and murmur, it is not ultimately about my circumstances, but about You and Your provision. Teach me that gratitude must not be left only to spontaneous moments, but must be chosen every day. May I review Your many gifts and blessings in my life, including those I have too long taken for granted. Teach me that gratitude relates to trust and obedience, for I cannot trust You when I am murmuring and grumbling about my life and circumstances. I choose this day to thank You for Your innumerable kindnesses to me, because I have done nothing to deserve them. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Eve

 Eve

Genesis 1.26-4.26

The woman opened her eyes and stared into the vast, beautiful space she would soon learn to call the sky. Bright colours and wondrous sights she didn’t yet have names for swirled all around her, green leaves, blue streams, warm golden sunlight, juicy red fruit. She breathed in, enjoying the feeling of her chest expanding and the delicious smells that tickled her nose. She found she could wiggle her fingers and her toes, and sit up, then stand. She stretched her hands high above head. It felt good to move! The woman caught movement out of the corner of her eye and realised she wasn’t alone. Brightly feathered creatures perched in the trees, and lithe, velvety shapes crept through the tall grass. After watching them for a while, the woman realised they were alive and awake, like her. They were beautiful and wonderful, but they were not of her kind. Is there anyone else like me? she wondered.

But the woman didn’t feel lonely or worried or afraid. Everything in her new home was wonderful and perfect and full of joy. Best of all, God was right there beside her. The woman knew that God had made her. He wasthe her Father. He loved her and said she was one of the best things He had ever created, made in His image. And she wasn’t the only one!

God led her to the man, later, he would be called Adam. He was lying down, sleeping. He opened his eyes and saw the woman, later, she would be called Eve, for the very first time. Adam smiled. “At last!” he said. “You are like me, flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone.” Adam told Eve that God had said it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone. God had brought every kind of animal to Adam, and the man had named each one. While Adam loved all the animals, none of them was the right partner for him. He needed someone like himself, someone made in God’s very own image. “This is very good,” God said. “Together, you will take care of the beautiful world I have made.”

The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what it was like for Eve right after she was created, so we can’t know for sure what Eve’s world was like, but the Bible does tell us a few interesting things. We know she lived in a world that was fresh and new and perfect. Nothing had yet been broken by sin or damaged by people’s bad decisions. The Bible also talks about a river that flowed out of Eden and the various lands the branches of that river flowed through. People have different ideas about where those might appear on a modern map, suggestIons include Egypt, Armenia, or somewhere in the Middle East. 

The Bible also tells us that God planted a garden in Eden for Adam and Eve to live in. He lovingly made a beautiful home for them and taught them how to care for it. We know God planted many delicious fruit trees to produce food for His beloved children. And God himself walked with them in the garden every evening. 

Eve lived in God’s garden with Adam and the animals in perfect peace, joy, and harmony. Many people believe there were no such things as wild animals, all of God’s creatures trusted and loved Adam and Eve like our pets trust and love us today.  Some people even believe that animals could talk, since Eve didn’t seem surprised when the serpent spoke to her. Of course, we can’t know that for sure, but it’s an interesting idea!

Because our Bibles use the pronouns He or Him for God, people often of God as a man. But God is not male or female the way humans are. The Bible says He made all human beings, boys and girls, men and women, in His image. This doesn’t mean our bodies look like God’s, He is Spirit and doesn’t have a physical body like we do. Genesis 1 uses two Hebrew words to describe how humans are made in God’s image. One of the words, tselem, is often used with statues or models. God intended us to be replicas of Himself. He gave us many of His own characteristics, like the ability to love and to create, though we are limited in ways that God isn’t. The second Hebrew word, demut, means to be like or to resemble. One of the ways God made us to be like Him is in the job He gave us of ruling creation as His representatives.

Sadly, Eve is famous not only for being the first woman who ever lived, but also for being the first person who ever disobeyed God. When Adam and Eve sinned, chose their own way over God’s, the image of God in them, and in all the humans who came after them, was broken. But it would be a mistake to give Eve’s story a sad ending. Right after God told  Adam and Eve about the consequences of their sin, by sending His Son, Jesus. The Bible calls Jesus the second Adam. He accomplished what the first Adam couldn’t, perfect obedience to God, and gave us a chance to have a new life and to act like the image bearers we were meant to be. Being made in God’s image means that He works through us to accomplish what he wants to do in the world. Even if, like Eve, we make terrible choices, God doesn’t want our story to end there. He wants to save us from the brokenness of the world, and the brokenness inside us. Through His power, and through bearing His image, you can be strong!

Promised land day 2

These days, few people seem to believe that there is such a thing as absolute truth. Fewer still believe we can know it.

Obviously, we’ve all been influenced by the presence of sin in the world, and that influence has rendered us incapable of absolutely understanding absolute truth. Because we cannot grasp it exhaustively, however, does not mean it doesn’t exist.

The truth about us is that whether we express it or not, we all live with a set of beliefs that we take to be “the truth.” But how we define truth makes all the difference in how we live.

Moses sent a group of 12 leaders into the Promised Land to gather information. He was going to use the information to formulate his plan of attack. After spending 40 days behind enemy lines, however, 10 of these leaders returned with a bad report, suggesting that there was no way they could accomplish the task of invading and displacing the people who currently occupied Canaan.

Several huge mistakes were made. First, Moses was the one who commissioned the team, but they returned and reported back to all the people instead. They were merely asked to bring back information, but they went beyond that and made a recommendation, “Let’s stay out of there!” Most importantly, the report brought back by these leaders failed to consider what God had to say about the situation. And that is precisely what made their report “bad.”

Truth is not merely facts. These men reported facts. The land was good. The inhabitants were large. The cities were fortified. Those are all facts. But factual information is only one part of the truth.

Neither is truth popular opinion. In fact, it is often in the absence of an understanding of real truth that opinion polls take on a weight and authority they do not deserve. Neither is real truth what is doable. Real truth is not our perception. Real truth is higher and deeper and broader than any of that. Real truth is what God says about a particular situation. Real truth corresponds to reality from God’s perspective. Only He sees the whole thing, and only He is in a position to make a judgment about it.

Truth is hard sometimes. Truth can be costly. Truth, for these people, would have meant war. It would have meant giving up some of their evenings at home in their tents, some of their peaceful (if nomadic) existence. Because they were afraid, because they had forgotten who they were and how great their God was, they chose to consider only the facts and go with popular opinion rather than doing what God had called them to do.

God’s truth would demand too much of them. It was unmanageable. It was impractical, they thought. But whenever a group of God’s people chooses to follow the path of practicality instead of listening to and obeying the call of God, they run the risk of spending years wandering about in aimless and fruitless work.

The people had a choice to make. They said, “Let us die in this desert rather than deal with these fierce enemies” (Num 14.1-2). And that is exactly what God allowed them to do.

Because the people failed to live by God’s truth, they ended up dying by their own.

 

God, I know that truth is what You say about a thing. You alone are the wellspring of the true, the beautiful and the good, and Your unchanging character is the absolute basis for truth. But I live in a culture of growing relativism in which people have increasingly abandoned the idea of objective truth. By Your grace, I choose to stand against popular opinion and affirm that Your Word is truth. May I resist the temptation to define truth in terms of my own subjective feelings, a majority vote or pragmatic results. Instead, I want to make choices that are based on sound judgment, knowing that wisdom is derived from Your inspired revelation. Illuminate my path with Your truth and empower me to walk in it. Then I will interpret the obstacles and opportunities I encounter with a biblical orientation.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Promised land day 1

 Numbers 13-14

God made a promise to Abraham, and He was working out the fulfilment of that promise. The problem is, He always moves at His own pace! 

God’s promise to Abraham included two things, a people and a place. It had taken awhile, but the first part had come true. Now the people were gathered together, standing literally at the threshold of their place, the Promised Land. 

We might understand if the people had doubted His promise before. They’d spent the last 400 years enslaved to Egypt. But recently, God had gotten a move on and things were progressing at a nice, steady pace. 

He had gotten them out of slavery really quickly. The people would never forget those plagues and that dark night when the Angel of Death passed over their houses. They would never forget the blood of lambs smeared over their doorposts. And, of course, how could they forget what God had done at the Red Sea? It’s not every day that water stands up like walls and mud turns to a hiking trail in the blink of an eye. It’s not every day that you get to see the mightiest army in the world swallowed up by a body of water, helpless before an unseen God. 

Oh, and just in case there was any doubt left, let’s not forget that whole smoking mountaintop with all the lightning and thunder. This YHWH character made outrageous promises, but He had the goods to back them up! You might say that God had demonstrated both His willingness and His ability to see this whole project through to the end. 

Still, slavery tends to breed a sense of inferiority in people. 

When they actually saw the land God had promised them, they were overjoyed! The land itself was incredible, better than they ever imagined. If only there weren’t already people living there. 

God told them it was their land. God told them to go and take it. He had enough firepower to ensure their success. But they backed away. And the reason they give is telling, “We look like grasshoppers in our own eyes” (Num 13.33). 

There are few things in the world more painful than missed opportunities. Here were the Israelites, standing on the verge of finally having their own land, of really becoming the nation God promised them they would be. And they shied away. 

It wasn’t really because of how big the people there were, it was because of how the Israelites saw themselves. 

Over the course of the next 40 years, they would have plenty of time to rethink their position. As they wandered from station to station, walking in the hot sun of the Arabian Desert, eating manna and quail all day every day, they would master two things. First, they mastered the art of complaining (Oy, vey!). Second, they figured out, slowly, how to take their eyes off of themselves and look to the God who had chosen them, inferior as they might feel, to be His people.

Once they did that, they realised He really was big enough to take care of business on His own. 

Dear Lord, may I frequently review the many acts of deliverance You have accomplished in my life. When I remember Your saving acts, I gain a renewed perspective on Your graciousness and involvement in my life. When I forget to do this, I sink back into a temporal perspective and lose the cutting edge of gratitude and trust. I want to recall Your glorious promises and remember Your creative deliverances so that I will grow in trust and not slip into doubt. With this perspective on my problems, I will not back off in disbelief and miss the opportunities You have provided for me. May I look at things through the lens of Scripture so that I will know how to respond to the circumstances and people in my life. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Real freedom day 4

There really is no such thing as “cold”, there is merely the absence of heat. Likewise, there’s no such thing as dark, just the absence of light.

And there’s no such thing as evil. There is only the absence of righteousness, a life that honours God by rightly relating to Him and others.

God gave His Law as a means of turning on the lights in a dark room, turning on the heater in a chilly basement. And yet, for some strange reason, many of us continue living in a cold, dark place rather than coming into the warmth and light that God offers.

How do we do this? We fail to open up and read God’s Word.

Biblical illiteracy is not just an embarrassment for incoming college students. It has infiltrated the Christian community as well. We have the best Story on the planet, and we’re largely ignorant of it. Because we don’t know our own Story, we can’t tell it very well. We settle for bits and pieces told in mostly a Reader’s Digest format. (No offence to the good folks at that fine periodical, but some books aren’t meant to be condensed into bite-sized portions.)

I want to be adamant about this point. I’m so very glad you clicked on this blog post and are reading it. It is my hope and prayer that you gain much and grow greatly as a result of my thoughts here. I spent a lot of time and energy producing this, and I  would hate to think of that all as a waste. I’m honoured and humbled that you have read this far.

However, this book is not intended to ever become a substitute for the real thing. You’ll never grow into the kind of person who thinks and feels and does the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right reason without picking up God’s Word.

Read it. Study it. Learn it. Memorise it. Meditate on it. Live it, not as an end in and of itself, but as a means to a greater end, to become progressively more and more like its Author.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone did? Can you imagine a single day with no murder, no gossip, no child abuse, no deceit, no fraud, no divorce? God intends to create just such a world, and He intends to start with you. Pick up His Word, read it and do what it says, and we can all get on with it!

O Lord, You have revealed Your will and Your ways in Your Word. In its pages I discover truths about You, about myself, about others and about Your world. Grant me the grace to overcome the spiritual and moral inertia that keeps me from being a regular student of the Bible. May I read its pages, meditate on the words and truths, and hide Your Word in my heart so that I will not succumb to temptation and sin, but be increasingly honouring to You. Grant that I would choose to set my mind and heart on the things above, where Christ is, seated in the heavenly places. I want to be defined by the truths of Your Word rather than the lies of this passing world system. As I learn and reflect on Your truths, I want to respond with unconditional commitment, knowing that I love You because You first loved me.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

Real freedom day 3

Before God gave His people His Law, the world was a rough place. In many ways it still is, but we would be wise to consider the moral baseline of civilisation at the time. We live on this side of 3,000 years of the civilising, restraining influence of the Judeo-Christian ethic. We enjoy the legacy of the Ten Commandments.

The world before God’s giving of the Law was an awful, scary, barbaric place to live. People routinely practiced human sacrifice, especially of children. Slaves were killed without any accountability. Women were considered property. Children were disposable resources. Revenge was commonplace.

It was survival of the fittest writ large.

No one, not even the most hardened Darwinian atheist, wants to live in a world like that.

All of us want there to be justice. We want there to be balanced scales. We want there to be a standard of right and wrong, punishment for the wicked and a recourse for the righteous to plead their case. None of that would be possible without the Law of God.

No wonder the psalmist said, “The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold… . Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long” (Psa 119.72,97).

People have given their lives to preserve the Word of God. People have gone to jail for possessing a copy. People have travelled land and sea to faithfully translate it into as many different languages as humanly possible. Many of us have multiple copies within easy reach, but do we really value the Bible?

Within its leather-bound, gold-leafed, onion-skin pages, we find more than history and philosophy, we find wisdom for living. The Bible doesn’t merely speak to us of “heavenly” things or “spiritual matters.” God’s Law is holistic, giving us a basis for coherent thought and practice.

As we meditate on God’s Word, He shapes the way we think about our world and ourselves, teaching us to think His thoughts and lead an integrated life in which everything we do matters. There is no dichotomy between spiritual and sacred. God intends to govern all of life, rendering it all holy.

How dare we reduce it to trivia or an academic textbook to be studied alongside Shakespeare or the Encyclopaedia Britannica! These are the words of life that point us to Wisdom and Truth personified, revealing to us the true character and nature of the true God who desires for us to be His treasured people, a people set apart for a purpose, rightly relating to Him so that we can be rightly related to each other.

 

Lord, let me increasingly delight in Your Law and meditate on its life-giving truths. I want to be a person of the Word who not only hears it but reflects on it and practices it. As I read the pages of Holy Scripture, I see that all things matter and that there is no dichotomy between the things we call spiritual and the things we call secular. Grant that I may receive a growing wealth of biblical perspective on the circumstances of life so that I will walk in wisdom, in trust, in submission, in obedience and in love. May I express my real freedom in Christ in acts of life-giving obedience and trust in Your ways. And when I slip into disobedience, may I return quickly and be thankful for Your patience and forbearance.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Real freedom day 2

Imagine a young couple standing at the front of a beautifully decorated church building. The groom is wearing a magnificent tuxedo, the bride is a vision in white lace. Their friends and families are gathered there, squinting in the candlelight, straining to hear them exchange their whispered promises.

Now imagine the young man turning to his bride. He’s written his own vows. He looks at her tenderly and says, “I want you to be my wife, but first I have to make sure you’re serious about this. So, after much thought and prayer and consulting people who I believe to be wise, I have come up with the following vow, which I make to you today in the presence of God and everyone. If you will faithfully wash my clothes, cook my meals, clean my house, share my bed and bear my children, then I will marry you.”

Any young woman who would go for such a deal ought to have her head examined! The minister ought to call the whole thing off right there. The father of the bride ought to demand his money back. The best man ought to have a word with his friend. It’s preposterous.

A marriage is built first on a commitment to relationship and trust. Acts of service are done with that as a backdrop. It’s not safe to marry someone without the context of a secure relationship built on mutual submission.

It’s the same in our relationship with God (the part about secure relationship, not the part about mutual submission). God does not give us the Law as a condition for relationship, the Law is a confirmation of a relationship. We don’t obey in order to become His children, we obey because we are His children. You cannot obey your way into salvation because only perfect obedience would be enough.

You obey God because you are saved. Obedience is your response to His grace.

The ironic thing is, once you begin living a life of obedience, you find your life actually works better. God has set things up to run a certain way, disobedience amounts to sawing against the grain of the universe, it’s unnecessarily difficult.

Then a really fascinating thing begins to happen. The more you obey God, the more you trust Him. The more you trust Him, the more you want to do what He says. Ultimately, you find yourself thinking the way He thinks, seeing things from His perspective. You find within yourself a desire to live out the will of God, and you no more think of breaking His law than you think it a good idea to break the law of gravity.

A life of obedience begins to be the only sane way to live, it is, in fact, a life of true freedom. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, real freedom comes only as we submit to God’s laws.

 

Lord God, You have revealed Your perfect character and will in Scripture. Your Word teaches the way that leads to fullness of life and provides the wisdom I need to make the right decisions and to value the right things. You have revealed Your Law not to imprison me but to liberate me from the prison of self. You have set my feet on a high place and now You call me to submit to Your will and obey Your commands. And I know that the more I do this, the more I am liberated from the bondage of the world, the flesh and the devil. Thank You for the grace to make me become the person You always intended me to be. Everything You ask me to do is in my best interest, and everything You ask me to avoid is destructive. May I learn more clearly the freedom of submission as I trust in Your character and obey Your precepts.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Lent 2023 post 20 (Because... I)

 Jesus, because You left Your throne in Heaven and came to Earth to be a suffering servant, I am confident that You understand the human condition with its hurts and temptations as well as its joys.

Because You spent Your life teaching and healing and forgiving and loving, I know You care about me. You came to restore me to wholeness.

Because of Your triumphant, though humble, entry into Jerusalem, I know that You are a servant King. I know that You are familiar with mankind’s fickleness, shouts of Hallelujah can turn into cries of Crucify. (Forgive me when I am fickle.)

Because You overturned the tables of the money changers and traders in the Temple, I know that You are passionate about the holiness of God, that reverence matters. (May I hold You in the holy esteem that You deserve)

Because You were bold before the accusing religious leaders, I know that honesty and authenticity matter. I know there are times to speak up even when it is uncomfortable or even dangerous 

Because You washed the disciples’ feet, I know that humble service, even to those who don’t deserve it, is what You desire

Because You instituted a sacrament of remembrance, I know that we must remember Your sacrifice for us, that we must take it lightly or think about more pleasant things 

Because You agonized in Gethsemane, I know that You understand how deeply things can hurt us, how we can be paralyzed by fear.

Because You asked Your Father to let the cup pass from You, I know it is all right to express my desires, to be honest about my fears, to ask for Your intervention.

Because You desired the Father’s will above Your own, I know that that’s what I am called to do. I know I can’t do that on my own but that You are able and willing to help me seek God’s will in all things

Because You submitted willingly to the ridiculous arrest by an armed mob and to several preposterous trails, I know that You know what it means to submit to God’s will even when it is difficult

Because You were quiet during Your trials and didn’t take issue with any of the false charges, I know that there are times when I should be quiet and not justify my actions even when falsely accused. (Help me to discern when it is time to speak out and when it is time to be quiet.)

Because You forgave Peter after his denial, seeking him out and reinstating him, I know You forgive freely, even obnoxious sins. (Thank You for forgiving my obnoxious sins.)

Because Your focus was primarily on others as You hung on the torturous cross, I know You truly came to save the lost and that You love me at all costs.

Because the Temple curtain split in two from top to bottom when You died, I know that because of You I now have access to the Father, my sins are covered and forgiven and I can approach God without fear!

And because death could not hold You, because You rose from the dead and appeared to over five hundred people, I know that You are alive and that Easter is not just a one day celebration! Because You rose from the dead, I will too! Death is defeated! God is victorious!

Thank You Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for giving me life, physical life, abundant life, and eternal life!