Who Understands Faith?
Paul Ministers in Malta
Deuteronomy 1:41-46
The Message
41 You spoke up, “We’ve sinned against God. We’ll go up and fight, following all the orders that God, our God, has commanded.” You took your weapons and dressed for battle—you thought it would be so easy going into those hills!
42 But God told me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t do it; don’t go up to fight—I’m not with you in this. Your enemies will waste you.’”
43-46 I told you but you wouldn’t listen. You rebelled at the plain word of God. You threw out your chests and strutted into the hills. And those Amorites, who had lived in those hills all their lives, swarmed all over you like a hive of bees, chasing you from Seir all the way to Hormah, a stinging defeat. You came back and wept in the presence of God, but he didn’t pay a bit of attention to you; God didn’t give you the time of day. You stayed there in Kadesh a long time, about as long as you had stayed there earlier.
42 But God told me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t do it; don’t go up to fight—I’m not with you in this. Your enemies will waste you.’”
43-46 I told you but you wouldn’t listen. You rebelled at the plain word of God. You threw out your chests and strutted into the hills. And those Amorites, who had lived in those hills all their lives, swarmed all over you like a hive of bees, chasing you from Seir all the way to Hormah, a stinging defeat. You came back and wept in the presence of God, but he didn’t pay a bit of attention to you; God didn’t give you the time of day. You stayed there in Kadesh a long time, about as long as you had stayed there earlier.
For Reflection
We
humans are so full of puffery! We think we are so strong, so
invincible. We bolster decisions which appeal to us and demonize other
alternatives. "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead," is our motto. As
Carl Sandburg put it in Four Preludes to Playthings of the Wind, "We are the greatest city, the greatest nation, nothing like us ever was."
Yeah, that's us. When will we learn to listen? When will we push our bloated chests aside and act in humility, as authentic children of God? Being a child of God, doesn't mean we are better than others. It means we are just as bad, but loved anyway. Let us learn to respond to God's love, listen to His word, and trust in His judgment.
Yeah, that's us. When will we learn to listen? When will we push our bloated chests aside and act in humility, as authentic children of God? Being a child of God, doesn't mean we are better than others. It means we are just as bad, but loved anyway. Let us learn to respond to God's love, listen to His word, and trust in His judgment.
Pray
that
you will disregard your tendency for self-reliance and adopt
God-reliance. Pray for the courage and will to trust in God's promise
and to be come obedient to His will.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please post comments here.