Tonight I am struck, once again, at how futile my current life of entertainment is. The time I could spend in prayer or knowing God's word, I fritter away for self-indulgence. If I were to die tonight, do I think I would be proud to tell God that instead of interceding for the weak or listening to him to find his will for the coming day I was playing "Gluey" on the computer? The pull of the little blobs morphing into same color shapes and racking up points for me was just too strong to be bothered with my master's business.
While I was pondering this point, I thought about the Spirit's prodding in my mind the last few days to spend my time more wisely, by listening and praying and studying. Although not obedient to heed to his voice, I realized tonight that with the exception of possibly the first six months of my new life in Christ, I have never read the Bible with the urgency of a dying man with only one hope left: understanding the revelation of God through his word. Instead, I come at the text like a movie reviewer: I will read it, see if I like it, note the good, the bad, and the boring, and utilize it as I would a memorized movie. Perhaps a quote will seem appropriate and I can pull it out and use it one day. Or the storyline was good, so I'll think on it and rehearse it in my mind's eye. All for my entertainment.
I don't want to be entertained by Christ, and I am finally willing and ready (I think) to accept the huge responsibility that comes from being his disciple; "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me." Have those words ever been full of life and hope to me? Does it make a difference that Jesus is the one who has the words of life? All other hopes and laurels that I've rested on are false and figments. I think until now I have had a hearing problem, not that I couldn't hear; that I wasn't careful how I heard.
Sometimes the same information can be received entirely differently by how a person hears. If I ask where an exit is in a building I visit that is unknown to me, I may listen somewhat but know that if I fail to listen correctly the first time I can ask someone else where the exit is, or I can meander around until I find one. If the building were on fire and my life depended on the location of the exit, you can bet my hearing will be a little more tuned in and attentive to the details. That is what I want for my walk with Christ. I want my hearing to be for action and not suggestion.

Joshua chapter 5

It is interesting to me how often God in doing great things asks us to do some hard things. When God caused the waters of the Jordan River (flowing downstream none the less) to stop and stand in a heap (Josh 3:13) so Israel could cross on dry ground to enter Canaan, it must have seemed to the Israelites that their entrance into and possession of the promised land was all but clinched. Truly, the peoples round about that heard of it were amazed and terrified of the Israelites. All the signs pointed Israel in one direction: Go! But God has a different message: Wait! In Joshua 5, God tells Joshua to prepare flint knives so the Israelites could be circumcised. What? Right now? Now, while the iron is hot for us to strike the nations because of the fear you put upon them, you want us to make ourselves vulnerable. (Not to mention it's going to hurt) But Joshua doesn't question God. He makes the knives, he circumcises the men and God says these words, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you."
Isn't this like our Christian lives? We crossed the Red Sea from Death to Life by Christ dying for us. We crossed the Jordan into the promised land of eternal life by accepting Christ's death and repenting and believing in him. But before we enter the abundant life that Christ wants for his disciples, we must roll the reproach of our old lives away. We must physically sever ourselves from our old way of life where sin was our master and do the hard, painful work of circumcising our hearts in obedience to God. Is this process painful? Truly it is. Does it take a while to heal? Yes it does. Does the time it takes to become circumcised to God mean you are missing out on the action? I see from this story that all systems can seem to be "Go" but God wants us to do some hard work on ourselves before he continues his great things. After all, since God requires it of us (as he did the Israelites) his timetable is not disrupted at all, but when he is obeyed his children are right on time.

In reading the first 5 chapters of the book of Joshua, I was struck by the fact that the Israelites had to cross two impossible rivers, the Red Sea to get out of Egypt, and the Jordan River to get into Canaan. At the time of their crossing, the rivers were at flood stage so the miracle of God stopping the waters for them to cross on dry ground must have been pretty awe inspiring. What struck me, though, was the Israelites needed God to help them cross the impossible river of leaving Egypt AND the impossible river of entering the promised land. It reminds me of our dilemma. We need Christ to escape from the old (sin, death, spiritual bondage) AND we need Christ to gain the new (reconciliation with God, life, spiritual freedom and relationship). Christ bridges both rivers for us: the river of death and wrath and the river of life and love. Through Him only we walk through both rivers on dry ground. Thank you, Jesus.

Moses and humility

When God called to Moses out of the burning bush, this must have been a life-changing experience. Here is a man who is an outsider--he's not accepted as an Egyptian, not accepted as an Israelite, he is just outside of fitting in anywhere. God, however, is not looking for an inside man to do the job He has for Moses to do. He is looking for a man of passion. A man who is passionate about his people's welfare and unity. Obviously he is passionate! He killed an Egyptian for beating an Israelite. Then he butts in to the fight of two Israelites who are at odds with one another, only to be told to mind his own business. As a matter of fact, the Israelite who was in the wrong asks Moses, "Who made you boss over us?" Little does Moses realize at the time that God will make him boss over them. Moses runs away from the situation, afraid for his life, and ends up in Midian. There he is a shepherd--seemingly out of the whole Egyptian/Israelite conflict. The burning bush proves otherwise for him, for God finds him where he is and calls him into his destiny. Moses in Exodus 3 asks God in essence, "Who do you think I am that I could go to Pharaoh and tell him anything?" And this is where we find the important lesson; God responds, "I will be with you." So if God tells us to do something, instead of asking ourselves, "Who am I to do such a thing?" we need to ask, "Who is there that can stop God?" Then we can humbly obey, with our importance not over or under-rated.