Call! Don't Fall!

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Judges 1-2)

“Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals;” Judges 2:8-11

The ominous sign at the foot of my bed had two exclamation points! “Call! Don’t Fall!” Two choices it screamed! “Call and ask for assistance or do yourself some serious damage by being independent!”

After my knee replacement, I spent eighteen days at Peabody Manor. I opted to do this because my doctor explained that physical therapy twice a day would produce better results in the long run. “Besides,” he said, “They know what they’re doing.”

I obviously didn’t since I’d never had anything replaced before. Charlie said that since he hadn’t either, it could be tough on our marriage if I stayed home and let him supervise the rehab exercises. So I was okay about being there for a while. After all, it was a safe place with competent people and our marriage was being preserved.

But this sign at the end of my bed: “Call! Don’t Fall!”

“I am an independent American and I can get up and take care of myself, thank you. Do I really need to call a nurse and wait for her to appear to do the basics of life?”

However, it wasn’t many hours before my knee pain and lack of balance made me wonder if the doctor had also performed a brain replacement. I couldn’t remember how to walk. It was like I was starting from scratch. I did most certainly need those helpful people in my unsteady state. Calling and not falling seemed like a very good choice. I began to be thankful that the sign was there with its two contrasts.

Speaking of contrasts, the book of Joshua and the book of Judges are like comparing a day filled with sunshine and a day covered over with clouds. Joshua is bright with stories of Israel’s obedience and success. Judges is twenty-one dark chapters of the young nation’s disobedience and failures.

Joshua had led Israel to conquer the Promised Land in general, but each tribe was to remove the Canaanite strongholds that remained in their individual inheritances. They didn’t do it. After Joshua died, the Israelites experienced some short-lived military successes under Judah and Simeon. But, as soon as they ran into the inhabitants of the lowland with their chariots of iron, their faith faltered. Instead of calling on God, they retreated in fear. Instead of removing the moral cancer spread by the inhabitants of Canaan, they let them remain.

Compromise always leads to conflict and chaos. The Israelites didn’t remove the cancer and they contracted the disease. Soon they were worshiping Baal and other Canaanite gods. By now, they should have learned the lesson: "Call! Don't Fall!” Call out to God because He is with you. He is there to deliver you Israel. Just obey!

Chapter two of Judges is a synopsis of the whole book of Judges. It is like reading the back cover of a novel. It tells us exactly what happens in the Book of Failures. When the Israelites don’t call, they fall. When they do call on God, He raises up a deliverer – a spiritual and political deliverer. These individual judges portray the role of Jesus as the Savior-King of His people.

Today we have Jesus living in us as our Savior and King. He is there for us. Why don’t we call on Him when we run up against the chariots of iron in our lives? So often, just like the Israelites, we compromise and coexist with strongholds that need to be dealt with. Then, we’re shocked at the amount of pull they exert on our lives.

My friend, Ann, came to visit me at Peabody Manor. She looked at the sign and said, “That’s a great spiritual message! Call! Don’t Fall!” She got it right away. No brain replacement needed there.

We can call and ask for assistance from our very competent Father in heaven or we can do ourselves some serious damage by being independent. These are two contrasting choices that we make so many times in every day. Just like at Peabody Manor.

The Role of Role Models

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Joshua 22-24)

“Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.” Joshua 24: 31

I was ten years old and I was dreading 4^th grade. Older, wiser students had warned me about the austere woman who would be my teacher. As I entered the classroom, my eyes focused on the cursive letters above the blackboard. I was scared to even glance in her direction. But, happy chatter forced me to look around the room - what was so exciting?

There she was! Or I could say, there she wasn’t! I stared incredulously at the young woman smiling at me. There was no sign of the teacher that I had feared. But, who was this? She walked up to me extending her hand. “I’m Miss Jones and I am your 4^th grade exchange teacher from England!”

“And what is your name?” she asked, her direct gaze sizing me up quickly. I was so dumbstruck that I just stood there and stared at her. She was so beautiful and I had never heard a British accent before.

“You must use good manners and reply when I ask you a question,” she stated with a fleck of humor in her eyes. “Now, I’ll ask you again, dear, what is your name?”

I replied, “My name is Betsy.” I could have added, “Did you hang the moon?” I was already that dazzled by this new teacher.

Fourth grade with Miss Jones proved to be a highlight of my life. She was a wonderful teacher who loved us and regaled us with songs and stories of her country. She taught us about the changing of the guard and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. Her descriptions of Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey made them real places we wanted to visit. Everyone tried to please her – even the behavior of the “awful” boys in the class went up a notch and they learned “God Save the Queen.”

One night she came to our house for dinner. I sat next to her and gazed enthralled while she entered into “grown up” conversation with my parents. The next day I reported every bite that she ate to my enrapt classmates. It’s a wonder that she didn’t waddle back to England; everyone wanted Miss Jones to come and eat a meal in their home.

That year I understood what it means to have a year fly by. In June 4^th grade was over and Miss Jones returned to the British Isles. A light had gone out of my life and my heart hurt. I spent the summer climbing the tree in front of my house trying to go high enough to see England. That fall, our fifth grade teacher had the unenviable job of trying to educate “Miss Jones’ students.” We spent many hours at our desks daydreaming about things that our beloved English teacher had taught us.

But she wasn’t really gone. We didn’t forget her and she never forgot us. Letters were sent across the sea. If we wrote her, she wrote us back. We were spellbound over tales of her marriage to the handsome John. My parents visited Miss Jones when they went to Europe, reporting on the beauty of her village, Henley-On-Thames. They brought back pictures of children - her English students.

Our letters continued over the years. I married prince Charlie and had children and grandchildren. A long time later, when her beloved John died, she wrote me about her broken heart and across the ocean I cried tears with her. After his death, she sent me her favorite poetry book filled with comments written in her smooth cursive handwriting. Two Christmases ago, I opened a package containing a hat and a scarf knitted by my dear teacher - now in her eighties. This Christmas there was a message on my answering machine – her British accent assuring me that she was thinking of me.

Joshua was a wonderful role model for the Israelites. The people loved him and respected him. It is recorded in today’s Scripture that “Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. (Josh. 24:31)

Who can measure the influence in our lives of the people we admire? They spur us on to be like them. They give us incentives to be all that God made us to be. We never forget them or the things they taught us. The elders who outlived Joshua remembered his leadership so clearly that they served the Lord all the days of their lives. I think about Miss Jones who has been in my life almost sixty years and I tell my grandchildren – “Be a teacher like she was, be a teacher who changes lives!”

How are you doing with the people God puts in your life? Are you a positive person who offers hope and encouragement for them, one who spurs them on to be all that God wants them to be? I know you are. After all, that’s the role of role models!

Bonny Doon

“Ye banks and braes o’ Bonny Doon, How can ye bloom so fresh and fair?How can ye chant, ye little birds, when I am so weary full of care?Ye’ll break my heart, ye warbling birds that warble on the flowery tree,For my false lover stole the rose, and left and left, the thorn with me.”

(One of the many songs that Miss Jones taught us. I sang it to my children and grandchildren when they asked, “Sing ’Bonny Doon’, Grandma!”)

Moldy Bread

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Joshua 9-11)

“This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy.” Josh. 9:12

“Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but they did not ask counsel of the Lord.” Josh. 9:14

“Everything looks great here!” I said to Charlie.

We had just finished unloading after arriving at our lake house. The sun was shining in the windows, the snow was melting in the woods, and the thermometer was looking happy - registering a warm 61 degrees.

Charlie paused by the calendar and reflected, “The last time we were here was February sixth. That’s over five weeks ago.”

Several hours later, after a light supper of toast and cocoa, I opened the drawer to put the bread away. “Aghhhhhh!” I didn’t mean to shriek but my agitated outburst caused Charlie to come rapidly into the kitchen. He saw me holding up an English muffin package full of the moldiest grossest-looking bread either of us had ever seen.

Returning from carrying it out to the garbage, he shook his head and said, “We sure missed that one when we were packing up!”

In today’s reading about the Gibeonites, Joshua and the Israelites sure missed something too.

We read that when the people of Gibeon heard how Israel had totally destroyed Jericho and Ai, they craftily decided to take another approach to save their skins. Their deceptive plan involved asking Israel to make a covenant of protection with them. They dressed up in old clothes and well- worn sandals and pretended that they came from a far country. To emphasize the length of their travels, they even brought moldy bread and showed it to the skeptical Israelites saying, “This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But, now look, it is dry and moldy.”

We are told that the Israelites looked at their provisions; “but they did not ask counsel of the Lord.” Three days later, after a protective covenant had been made, guess what? The children of Israel found out that these so-called travelers were not from a far country but were really their neighbors. Now, instead of attacking their cities, they had to protect this tricky group of deceivers. They were stuck with the Gibeonites literally forever.

If they only would have asked counsel of the Lord! Even the great Joshua, successor to Moses himself, did not seek out God on this decision. It caused them a lot of trouble immediately and later on down the road.

I don’t know about you, but I get myself in a lot of bad situations when I don’t pray before making a decision. It seems to be taking me a long time to learn that God will give me direction if I will just ask. His promise, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” is as true today as when the Bible was written. (Luke 11:9&10) Why do I persist in plunging into things without seeking the counsel of the Lord?

When we arrived at the lake, everything appeared to be in great shape. But, we had missed something. In our own wisdom we often miss important things. Chris, my daughter-in-love, always says, "God's will unfolds." She's right, it does, if we'll just take the time to ask Him what His will is before we pack up and hurry off.

Isn’t it amazing how relevant to our lives the Bible stays? As I was reading about the Gibeonites, I could vividly picture their moldy bread. The English muffins were a graphic reminder that when I make decisions without praying, things get stale very quickly!

The Enticement of Wild Daffodils

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Joshua 1-3)

“This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8

“Dad. Can I just go across the road this once? I want to pick those yellow flowers.”

“No way!” was my father’s firm response. “ Four year old girls are not allowed to cross highways by themselves.”

Observing the crestfallen look on my face, he paused. “I tell you what, when I get home, I’ll walk over there with you, okay?”

I said, “All right,” but I didn’t mean it. His car had barely backed out of the driveway when my friend, Terry appeared. He was five and I regarded him as much older. He could go with me!

Later, when my father walked into the kitchen, his eyes fell on a scraggly bouquet of wild daffodils leaning precariously out of a glass. Quick strides took him to the front sidewalk where Terry and I were drawing sea lions on the concrete.

“Betsy,” he said, his voice very quiet, “I thought I told you that you did not have permission to go across that road by yourself.”

“I didn’t go anywhere by myself, Dad,” I replied innocently. (After all, Terry had been with me all morning)

My father knew how to deal with that. “Well,” he said, “I’ll bet you didn’t even look both ways when you crossed that busy street.”

“Oh, yes, I did, Daddy,” I answered fervently! Whoops!

The next thing I knew, my father had taken off his shoe, put me over his knee, and spanked me soundly. The spanking didn’t feel so good, but the worst part of it was being humiliated in front of my friends.

Terry had the audacity to say, “Mr. Billings, I just want you to know that I didn’t pick any of those flowers.” Then, my angelic friend left hastily. The rest of the neighborhood kids just stood there and watched.

I burst into tears over the indignity of it all. My dad put his arm around me and said, “You know you are getting double punishment because you not only disobeyed, but you also lied to me. You are not to play with Terry for a whole week!"

Sniffling into his jacket, I said, “I’m sorry, Dad.” I really was.

I didn’t know it but my father had taught me a lifelong lesson in truth and obedience that day. It’s a lesson I still remember.

Our Scripture today talks about being obedient to God’s word as it is written in His book. It is one of the most memorized verses in the Bible.

The year is 1405 B.C. The Israelites have finally grown up and are about to enter the Promised Land. After the death of Moses, God chose Joshua as their new leader. Joshua means “salvation” in Hebrew and “Jesus” in Greek. In fact there are a lot of parallels between Joshua and Jesus. Some call him a type of Christ. He was a very good leader.

One reason that he was such a great man is he had been discipled almost all of his life by the best of men, Moses. He had watched him, listened to him, and modeled his life after him. When God tapped him for leadership, he was ready.

Each generation must be taught the same lessons in truth and obedience. How are we raising our children? Are we taking the time to talk to them, to correct them, and to teach them how to be obedient men and women? What about our co-workers? Moses and Joshua weren’t related, but Moses took the time to train him perfectly. Who is in your life that could become a Joshua? Who are you nurturing?

Many years have passed and over the years I have crossed a lot of streets by myself. Now the snow is melting and spring is coming. Even Wisconsin has bits of green poking up in the cold soil. The tulips and the daffodils will eventually appear. But as I look at them, it is wild daffodils and my father’s training that I will be remembering.

Happy Birthdays!

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (32-34)

“Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor abated.” Deut. 34:7

Two of my favorite people in the world celebrate birthdays today! One is our oldest son, Ethan; the other is our youngest granddaughter, Rachel. Ethan pastors a church in Alaska and Rachel attends third grade in Illinois. They are celebrating 3,000 miles apart but they are very close together in my heart.

I had the joy of seeing them both enter the world.

When Ethan was born in Muscatine, Iowa, spring was in the air that floated in through my hospital window. They laid him on my bed and he looked all around. He was only an hour old, but I felt like he had always been a wonderful part of my life. “Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.” As Charlie and I beamed at him, we both knew what all new parents know, never was there such a child!

Thirty-five years later I shook the snow off of my boots as I entered the hospital in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Katie and Norman had called and said, “It’s time to come, Mom! Things are starting to happen.” As I watched Rachel enter the world, I’ll never forget the looks on her parent’s faces. Joy and relief and amazement as they looked at the perfect little face – never was there such a child!

Ethan and Rachel were both born on March 12: a man and a girl a generation apart, in different states – one in spring like weather, one in near blizzard conditions. Now they live their lives 3,000 miles apart. But besides some similar family genes and my great love for both of them, they have something that bonds them together supernaturally. They each love the Lord their God with all their hearts. His Spirit is very easily seen in their lives.

Far away on the other side of the world, many generations ago, there was another set of parents who looked at their third baby and thought, “Never was there such a child!” Their names were Amram and Jochebed and they named their tiny offspring, Moses. Prior to his birth, the King of Egypt had ordered the death of all little boys born to Israelite women. These parents thought their boy so special that they trusted God and risked putting him in a basket and hiding him in the waters of the Nile River. When the daughter of Pharaoh came to bathe, she found Moses and took him to her palace. There, she raised him as her own child for forty years right under the nose of Pharaoh himself. (Daughters seem to twist their fathers around their wrists fairly easily} However, when Moses identified with his birth family and killed an Egyptian who was mistreating a Hebrew man, he was forced to flee into the desert wilderness for forty years. Then, one day he met God in a burning bush and was told to return to Egypt and “Let my people go.” Moses spent the next forty years of his life leading the Israelites up to the Promised Land. Moses recorded all of this in the first five books of the Bible called the Pentateuch.

Today we read the last chapter of Deuteronomy describing the final days and the death of Moses. “His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor abated.” God took Moses to the top of Mount Nebo and showed him the Promised Land that He had sworn to give his forefathers. Moses could see it all just fine; his eyes were great. His physical health, too, was robust – he could climb to the top of mountains just as he did forty years before.

Moses didn’t die up there of natural causes. He died because his work was finished and it was time for God to take him to his true home. Jude 9 tells us that the archangel Michael personally cared for his body. God buried him not on the mountain but in the valley opposite Beth Peor. No one knows where to this day. It’s a good thing. Otherwise’ we would all go visit his gravesite and chop off little pieces of rock to bring home and set on our desks. There would be signs and shrines and crowds. This most special man, the humblest of all men who ever lived, would not have wanted that. He lived to glorify God and only one recorded time, himself. He would have been most pleased to be buried alone with God.

It can be truly said of Moses, never was there such a child!

Happy Birthday, Ethan Charles! Happy birthday, Rachel Joy! Like Moses, your love for God will take you many places. May your eyes and your vigor always focus on serving the Lord Jesus Christ all the days of your lives.

Overtaking Blessings

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Deut. 28)

“And all these blessings shall come upon you, and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. (Deut. 28:2)

“Kayla,” I said gazing incredulously at my 10 year old granddaughter, “When did you write all these poems?”

“Oh, at school,” she replied nonchalantly.

“They’re wonderful,” I exclaimed, “I love them!”

“Well,” she responded, warming to my enthusiasm, “I’m writing a longer story now. It’s about an ice skater who has had a bad fall and is nervous about starting to skate again.”

“May I read it?” I asked.

“Sure….. but,” she added looking around warningly, “please not out loud.”

There was a teenage brother in the room looking harmless enough as he watched ESPN. However, I understood. Most of us writers feel just like that about our work. Is 98% of what we say garbage? Are people going to look at our stuff and laugh their heads off?

As I read about Shannon, the ice skater, my heart rejoiced. Each page pulled me into the next. “Kayla,” I lamented, “How can I go back to Wisconsin and not know how this story ends?”

“I’ll send it to you when it’s done,” she responded reassuringly.

What a blessing for a grandmother to read her grandchild’s talented writing! We see these great bends in our children and grandchildren and they are incredible blessings. They surprise us and overtake us. They are gifts from God.

In today’s reading, the nation of Israel is given the beginning of Moses’ third message to them. He predicts what will happen to Israel in the future. I love the concept that their obedience to God’s standards will result in blessings that will overtake them. His blessings will chase after them and literally run them down.

Did they obey God? Yes, at first, but.... well, we'll just have to keep reading to see what happens in God's great story of the nation of Israel.

This morning I called Kayla and asked, “Are you poems copyrighted or may I publish one on my blog?”

“Of course,” she responded cheerily, “Which do you want to post?”

“Turquoise,” I said. “It reflects the prolific blessings of your favorite color.”

Here it is, a poem lavish with God’s overtaking blessings, written by a fifth grade girl who has noticed them.

The Life of the Color Turquoise

Turquoise…

Is born in a clear sky

Makes me feel joyful, serene, thoughtful

Feels like a pillow, water, a flower petal

Looks like the sky, a morning glory, water

Is my friend because it makes me calm, alive, thoughtful

Smells like birthday cake, fresh air, a flower

Behaves peacefully, gently, joyfully

Tastes like fresh air, icing

Sounds like birds chirping, breezes blowing

Dies when the sun sets and darkness enters

Kayla

God is chasing us down with His overtaking blessings. Will you, like Kayla, watch for them today? Look behind you, look above you, look around you. They are everywhere.

Oh, stay tuned for Kayla’s future blog address!

The Counsel of the Strawberries

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Deut. 3-4)

“Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and grandchildren.” Deut. 4:9

The package was waiting for me on my front porch. Paul and Melanie had sent me a very cool birthday present. I opened a box of humongous strawberries that were completely dipped in chocolate – some white and some dark. Not only were they dipped, but each strawberry was beautifully decorated in various colors of pink, white, and red. Every one was artistically done.

Included with the ice packed strawberries were instructions: “Eat within 48 hours!” The (warning) went on to say that since they were fruit they wouldn’t keep - they needed to be eaten. So, I complied. Attractive as they were, I ate them. They tasted even better than they looked. “What a great warning,” I thought, “Eat within 48 hours!”

The next day, while making my bed, I noticed a label protruding from my pillowcase. It threatened, “Do not remove under penalty of law!” I had dutifully hearkened to its warning and left it attached to my pillow for the past year. “That’s the end of you,” I thought as I vehemently ripped it off. “I like the counsel of the strawberries much better.”

There are many warnings in the book of Deuteronomy. The central message of Deuteronomy is obedience. Some form of the words “obey” and “do” occur on an average of five times in each chapter. The whole book is basically a warning both to Israel and to us today. Obedience brings blessings from God and disobedience brings punishment from God. The three messages that Moses pens in Deuteronomy make that pretty clear.

Today’s Scripture gives me four admonitions that I take very seriously. Actually they sum up my life goals and why I write. Here’s how they speak to me.

“Only take heed to yourself,” I am to pay attention to what God tells me to do. A couple of days without reading the Word of God and I start to spoil like the strawberries.

“Lest you forget the things your eyes have seen,” God has done so much in my life. He has painted pictures on my soul even lovelier than the decorated fruit. I don’t want to ever forget the things that He has accomplished since He led me out of my Egypt.

“All the days of your life.” Walking with the Lord is a lifelong commitment. I want to be among those who finish well and never drift away from Jesus.

“And teach them to your children and grandchildren.” That’s why I’m writing. We who have “tasted and seen that the Lord is good” are urged to share our knowledge, insights, and experiences with those who come after us. They may be our physical family or they may be our spiritual family. We all need to remember and reiterate what God has done in our lives, just like the second generation of Israelites needed to hear again what had happened in the forty years since they were miraculously delivered from Egypt.

As we travel though life, we are faced with multitudes of warnings. They may come with strawberries or they may be attached to pillows. There are long lists that we all can name. Some are good and some make no sense. But I’ve lived long enough to know that the aftertaste of obedience to God’s warnings is even better than the sweetness the taste of my birthday berries left in my mouth.

Pay attention to God's Word, don’t forget what He's done, finish well, and teach your children and grandchildren. Isn’t Deut. 4:9 an awesome warning? It's even better than the counsel of the strawberries!

Maybe, though, that advice belongs on all of our Bible covers: "Eat within 48 hours!"

Remember, Remember, Remember!

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Deut. 1-2)

“These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.” Deut. 1:1

“Grandma, remember you are loved by all!”

February 25^th was my 67^th birthday. I thought it would be a rather nondescript occasion. 67 is heading toward the middle of 65 and 70. Who would pay much attention to this one? Surely not me - but everyone else seemed to. In fact, I was a bit overwhelmed by the love that was showered on me this birthday. I’d like to tell you about every wonderful thing that happened, but my grandson, Christopher did something that fits in well with today’s Bible reading.

He made me a bright yellow card and on it he had written the words, “Grandma, remember you are loved by all.” Then he had added the words remember, remember, remember!

That is what Moses is doing today as we start the book of Deuteronomy - remembering. He is speaking to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. He is giving them a charge and telling them to think back about what has happened to them since the time they left Egypt forty years before.

Deuteronomy has even been called “The Book of Remembrance.” It covers about one month as the children of Israel camp on the plains of Moab east of the Jordan River. They are so ready to enter the land of Canaan. As Moses deliverers his instructions, I can picture the Israelites looking at him with the water flowing behind him and the Land of Milk and Honey visible just beyond. I know what Moses looked like because of the movie, “The Ten Commandments.” He is now 120 years old - nearly twice my nondescript age - as he starts his series of farewell messages that make up Deuteronomy.

The Book of Rememberings has other names. The Hebrew title means “The Words.” Moses gives them in oral and written form so that they will endure to all generations. Deuteronomy is also called “five-fifths of the Law” since it completes the Pentateuch – the five books of Moses.

Moses delivers three sermons to the Israelites in Deuteronomy. They have a simple theme. Remember what happened when you obeyed God? Remember how bad things became when you didn’t obey Him? Christopher's words: remember, remember, remember!

It is important for us to bear in mind that this is a generation whose parents have all died in the wilderness wanderings because of their lack of faith. Only Joshua and Caleb remain. The Israelites Moses is speaking to have seen the graphic results of disobedience. They need to be instructed and encouraged to obey the Law given 40 years before at Mt. Sinai.

Birthdays remind us that we are crossing rivers into new years filled with giants. Uncertainty and fear are stationed around every turn on our journeys through life. Will we meet these giants with fear or with faith? It's always there- looming in front of us on our Christian walk- the faith or fear question! Isn't it so much easier to hunker down in front of the TV and cater to our couch potato sides? Who wants to get up and take a risk anyway? It is especially difficult because, well, risks are risky. They can even result in failure. Getting involved with life is difficult – having a neighborhood Bible Study, reaching out to hurting friends, cooking a meal for a homeless shelter, coming to the aid of babies being aborted - the precarious list of things God calls us to do goes on and on. Leaving our recliners to go into the unknown is so unknownish. It doesn’t seem safe at all.

Moses' reminder is so significant! We need to remember, remember, remember what has happened in the past when we obeyed God. As we think back upon what God has already done, our hearts are strengthened for the future. Let’s determine to respond to His call in obedience even when it doesn’t seem safe, When we respond in obedience, He takes care of the giants in His own marvelous way – just like He has always done in the past.

Hudson Taylor said, “God’s command is His enabling.” What a great birthday reminder for a new year of life!

Remember, remember, remember!