Monday, November 19, 2007
Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember that the Lord your God led you all the way . . .
REMEMBER THE LORD . . . AT THE CROSSROADS OF LIFE
To say that it had been a long time coming would have been an understatement. It had been 40 years since this nation, the children of Israel, had stood at the foot of Mount Sinai where God had given them His Law. It had been but a matter of weeks or months at that time before they were standing at the border of the land of Canaan.
That had been a major crossroads in their history. At that point they had failed to trust in the Lord's ability to deliver the Promised Land to them. Instead, they had rebelled against the Lord and voiced their desire to be back in Egypt where things had been so "good."
Now here they were again. God had consigned them to wandering in the wilderness for 40 long years -- one year for each day that the 12 spies had been in the Promised Land. But now once more the Promised Land stretched before them.
Another crossroads! Same enemy. Same leader. Same Lord. Same promise. What would they do?
We know how it is when we come to those proverbial "crossroads" in our lives. Whenever we reach those places at which there is a decision that needs to be made, a decision that appears to have life-altering impact, we are tempted to be like the Israelites. We are tempted to take our eyes off the Lord and instead get all caught up in weighing the pros the cons, in applying ourselves to the height of our own personal ability to be sure that what comes will be nothing but the best.
No -- let us instead follow the lead of these Israelites. "We will serve the Lord." They had learned that their Lord was reliable, that He would see them through this challenge as He had through everything they had encountered for the last 40 years.
Take the Lord at His Word -- hold onto His promise that covers every crossroads: "I will never leave you nor forsake you!"
