The story of the Israelites is very sobering for me, as I start to read their journey throughout the Old Testament, I realise they are no different from how we are today.
We see that the Israelites are so rebellious and drive God to jealousy because of their idol worshipping. Deuteronomy 4:22 - 24 “…but you shall go over and take possession of that good land. Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
He specifically told the Israelites they will take the land He had promised them, he will give their enemies over to them, He will go before them. His one request was to obey him, love him, and meditate on his word (Joshua 1:8) and follow his commandments. But the Israelites became weary and tired making them vulnerable - meaning they didn’t plunder the land the way they were supposed to and allowed the natives to still inhabit the land, in fact, the Israelites lived side by side with them (Judges 1&2). They soon fell into sin and started to do the same practices of those who already existed. This is very similar to us today, rather than follow through with everything that God says, we do a percentage of it and think that is sufficient - It’s not! There is a reason why the Lord says he wants us to be rid of that thing entirely or why he wants us to stop watching that program/film, or why he no longer wants us in communication with person or persons, or be eating that food! The Lord knows why, we just need to be obedient and follow His ways.
His ways are perfect, and higher than our ways (Isaiah 55: 8-9). How can we be so bold and arrogant to think we know better than God. How can we think that we can make better decisions than Him - He is the creator of the universe, he formed the world and created everything in it, including you and me (Genesis 1&2). He knew us before we were formed in our mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5). Our minds are primitive in comparison to God. Stop taking matters into your own hands, trust in the Lord almighty, be obedient to his word. Keep pushing through no matter how difficult the road gets. It’ll be worth it in the end. How do I know? Because the Lord told me so in his word - Those who love, trust and obey his word will not perish but have everlasting life (Daniel 12:2, Galatians 6:8, John 3:16 & 36, John 6:47, Romans 6:22, 1 John 2:25…). I want to live in eternity and not die in a lake of fire, what about you?
There has been countless of times the Israelites had fallen from the Lord’s grace, and yet he still forgave and fought for them. The Lord does the same thing for us daily - he is long suffering, patient and merciful, let’s live to glorify and please God. Don’t give in to the hardships of life and do things in our own strength. We have a sovereign Lord who is willing to hold your hand and give you the strength you need to keep going, no matter how difficult it gets. Let’s hold onto the faithfulness of God!
Be rid of the things that take your distraction from the Lord. Examine yourself daily, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in understanding if there is anything in our hearts that we still struggle with. Like in Judges, we need to know if there is anything in our lives that is grieving the Lord, we don’t want to be in the position when the Lord says, I’ve had enough I can no longer deliver you from your sin anymore due to our rebellious nature - Judges 10:13-14 “Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore, I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.” I never want the Lord to give up on me, don’t be that person where the Lord makes a decision to give up on you too and he gives you over to your sin (Romans 1:28). Don’t take for granted the grace the Lord has given us. We need to decide how much do we love Him, how much do we recognise what He has done for us, how much does he call us to Him. Let us not take for granted that call, we don’t want to be in the position where he stops calling.
Our God is long suffering and patient, and whilst I for one appreciate his mercies upon my life, and showing his love and grace towards me, I don’t want to take that for granted. I want to be pleasing to Him daily. His word says, to pick up our cross daily (Luke 9:23), there is another portion in the scriptures that says to submit all our ways to him and he will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:6). The Lord knows our walk is hard, he knows the struggles that we go through daily - but it is about how much are we willing to keep pushing for the Lord, how much are we willing to persevere despite our flesh wanting to give in. It is so easy to not be obedient to the call of the Lord. However, think of it like this - Jesus had that same freedom to, to make a decision to say he is not going to go through with His sacrifice but he knew the call on his life was far greater than how we felt in the Garden of Gethsemane. If Jesus can make such a sacrifice for us, surely we can be persistent in our walk in Him. Yes, we are sinful by nature and not perfect - but what should be driving us in our walk is our love for the Lord and willingness to do what God has called us to do.
So keep pushing, because His love is so much more than what the world has to offer. Remember where the Lord has brought you from and the miracles he has displayed in your life, the prayers he has answered and overall his ultimate sacrifice so that you may live. Amen x