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Chapter-a-Day

A Land That Drinks Rain

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https://open.spotify.com/episode/0xRclnGJ6BIS5zescdesgG?si=dAN3qhtQSfiLuN9Et294SQ

The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven.
Deuteronomy 11:10-11 (NIV)

It’s not even Christmas and our driveway has required shoveling more times already than a few entire winters of recent memory. Last weekend Wendy and I were driving through a snow storm.

“Well, the farmers will be happy,” Wendy said.

That is such an Iowa thing to say. When you live in a state that drives nearly $50 billion dollars in annual revenue from crop production, agriculture is always part of the conversation. But for children of Iowa, it’s more than just money. We know that the fertile fields of Iowa feed the world. Closer to home and hearth, we know that farming is the life-blood and legacy of families.

Growing up in Iowa, you quickly learn that weather isn’t just about comfort or recreation, it’s an essential element of life, provision, and prosperity.

On a macro level, Moses’ words to the Hebrews crossing into the Promised Land in today’s chapter are about the blessings of love, legacy, and loyalty contrasted with the curses of apathy, forgetfulness, and hearts that wander. Right in the middle of the chapter (ancient Hebrew writers loved to put the most important bits in the center of the text), is a fascinating reference. Meteorology as metaphor: rain.

Back in Egypt, Moses reminds his people, water had to be industrially stored and channeled. Irrigation systems required. Humans digging, tunneling, manufacturing ways to make water work for them—that’s human empire. Human ingenuity finding ways to do what God does naturally by divine means. Humans have been doing that since the Tower of Babel.

The Promised Land, Moses tells his children, is God’s country. It is a land God Himself waters with rain from heaven. Rain is God’s blessing on the land and the people. God’s blessing, however, requires…

Faith, not function
Trust, not contraptions
Love, not labor.

This is God through Moses laying another layer of metaphor to lovingly communicate what He’s been saying all along. I’ve chosen and called you to be different than this world and the kingdoms of this world. Not because you deserve it or earned it but because of my love, grace, and mercy. Love me, trust me, follow me and rain will fall from heaven and you will be blessed with abundance and prosperity you can scarcely imagine.

Then comes the hard side of love. It isn’t punishment, it’s consequence.

There is a consequence, a curse, that comes if love, trust, and fidelity fade and fail. The skies close up. Drought conditions set in. At some point things resort back to the function, labor, and contraptions. When that happens, God’s people will be just like all the other kingdoms of this world.

The message I found flowing through the chapter in the quiet this morning was that the danger is not rebellion or disobedience. The danger is forgetting. Moses’ mantra thus far in his deathbed message has been the steady rhythmic beat of Zakhor: remember, remember, remember. Remembering what God has done is the crucial first step and activating ingredient in Life and blessing. Forgetting leads down a very different path.

“Believe me,” Moses urges his children, “you don’t want to go there.”

In a little divine wink, I’ve been hearing waves of heavy rain hitting the window of my office as I’ve been writing these words. I pulled up the radar. It’s a chilly Iowa winter morning, but well above freezing. A heavy rain is melting the snow from last weekend’s storm and soaking the slumbering earth.

In coffee shops all over Iowa, farmers sitting patiently through the death of winter and looking to the promise of Spring are smiling. A soaking winter rain. It’s a good thing. Gotta love it. But, it’s not a guarantee. Gotta have faith, too. Spring is still a long season away.

Rain is a gift.
So is remembering.
And faith, like spring, is something we wait for—but also something for which we prepare.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Chapter-a-Day

An 11-Day Trip in 40-Years

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(It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)
Deuteronomy 1:2 (NIV)

In the fall of 2003, I made a trip to Israel with my boss and long-time mentor. It was never meant to be a simple vacation. Chuck, who founded our business along with his late wife, Charleen, was planning to retire from the business at the end of 2004. My colleague Scott and I would be taking it over. Chuck had discipled both Scott and me as young men in high school and college. We’d journeyed together in life and business for many years, and the transfer of the business that Chuck and Charleen founded was a major milestone. Chuck wanted to go to Israel, to share the experience together, and to pray over the next phase of our shared journey.

I have many fond memories of that trip. In particular, I remember sitting atop Mount Arbel on the north west of the Sea of Galilee. When Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, I have to believe Mount Arbel was at least one of the places. It affords a panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee. 

From the top of Mount Arbel you can see fields white unto harvest, Capernaum, and the fishing villages that dot the Galilee shore. In the distance is the Decapolis region where so much of Jesus ‘ministry unfolded. Standing on top of Arbel would have been like a strategy session for Jesus and His ministry. It was on top of Arbel that Chuck, Scott, and I spent an extended time of prayer for the business, for where God would lead us.

Today we begin the book of Deuteronomy. It is the last of the five books of Moses, known also as the Torah, or what Jews refer to as “The Law.” The word Deuteronomy means “second telling.” It’s a repeat of the story thus far since the book of Exodus, which for modern readers is a bit of a head scratcher. Especially those poor souls who made their New Year’s resolution to read through the Bible cover-to-cover and have already slogged through Leviticus and Numbers.

“What!? The same thing all over again? Are you kidding me?!”

I suspect no small number of New Year’s Bible-reading resolutions die somewhere in early Deuteronomy. But, context is everything. Sometimes, those stories your grandparents bored you with as a child take on new meaning forty years later in life when you have grandchildren of your own.

As Deuteronomy opens, Moses and the Hebrew tribes are standing on the shore of the River Jordan in the land of Moab. Across the Jordan is the Promised Land. They have been here before, but that was 40 years ago. The people to whom Moses is speaking are not the same Hebrews who stood here then. This is a new generation. Some were babies and little children. Many had not been born. God has brought them here to claim the very promise their parents and grandparents once stood poised to inherit. Moses is retiring. He will not go with them. Joshua is taking over leadership of the company.

For the young Hebrews looking at the sun sparkle off the water of the Jordan River and gazing at the land beyond, the Story is not a boring rehash. It’s memory as mentorship. This is Moses saying, “I love you enough to tell the truth about where we’ve been… so you do not repeat it.”

Jewish sages see this passage as a parental moment. A loving father preparing his children for spreading their wings and taking flight on their own. And one of the main themes in the retelling is how fear short-circuits faith and destiny. They’d been right here 40 years ago. But, their parents and grandparents were afraid. They were afraid because fear choked out the courage to follow God into the land He promised. Even though God had delivered them from Egypt, had miraculously appeared on the mountain and given the Law, had miraculously led them every step of the way with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day as guides.

At the very beginning of the chapter, Moses adds a parenthetical that stands out like a sore thumb in the text. It doesn’t fit in the flow:

(It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)

Moses is making a cheeky point. What could and should have been an eleven day trip has taken them 40 years to bring them to this place in this moment — because they were afraid to follow God into the Promised Land. Forty years in the wilderness was not so much punishment as it was spiritual formation. Along my journey I’ve learned that God does not just pass students onto the next grade if they haven’t learned the required lessons. Some souls spend their entire earthly lives repeating spiritual Kindergarten, never quite trusting the Teacher enough to move on.

I suppose that’s why my thoughts drift back to Mount Arbel—memory as mentorship, then and now. In the quiet this morning, I feel the wind whipping across the top of Mount Arbel. I stare out across the Sea of Galilee out of which flows the Jordan River. I remember Chuck, Scott, and I praying about our own moment of transition.

Will I have faith to step into God’s promise, or will I flee in fear?

“Do not be afraid,” Moses said to them. This phrase will be used more in the book of Deuteronomy than any other book in the Great Story. It is a father, a mentor lovingly urging those he’s loved and raised to embrace faith over their fears, to learn the lessons of the past, and to step into the promises God has spoken over their future.

What a great reminder as I step into another week, as I step into the final month of 2025, and as I stand on the precipice of a new year in which I will begin the seventh decade of my earthly journey. I don’t think this trek through Deuteronomy will be mindless repetition. I think it holds spiritual truths that will be essential for the road ahead.

So I lace ’em up again—heart steady, spirit willing. Here we go. I hope you’ll join me on the journey.

Have a great day, my friend.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Chapter-a-Day

A Sage Warning

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“But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
Numbers 32:23 (NIV)

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m currently writing a book about my business. I have spent over 30 years in the world of Quality Assessment (QA). You know, the ol’ “This call may be monitored for quality and training purposes.” I estimate that I’ve analyzed over 100,000 calls in my career. So the working title of my book is This Call May Be Monitored with the subtitle What Eavesdropping on Corporate American Taugh Me About Business and Life.

One of the things that has amazed me in my career is what people will talk about on the phone at work when they know their calls are being recorded. I’ve heard conversations about the sex orgy people participated in over the weekend. Ew. TMI! Once, I even got to talk to the FBI because a recorded call revealed that someone was spending time at work on the phone setting up their illegal drug operation.

One of the things I love about this chapter-a-day trek is that I’m constantly reminded of the source of what has become commonly known sayings and idioms. In today’s chapter, it’s the moral reminder I’ve heard since I was child: “Your sin will find you out.”

Sayings become cultural idioms when they are true. I can personally testify to the voracity of the saying “Your sin will find you out.” Not because I’ve caught people on a recorded line starting a drug business, but because I’ve repeatedly gotten caught making stupid decisions throughout my life journey. I have stories. Buy me a pint and I’ll share a few.

In today’s chapter, two of the twelve Hebrew tribes decide that they’d rather settle in the land east of the Jordan River where the tribes are currently encamped rather than crossing the river and entering the Promised Land and having land there. These tribes had huge livestock operations and the land was perfect for raising and grazing the herds.

This request was a potentially a serious problem for the larger Promised Land initiative. The request to stay put and not cross into the Promised Land could be seen as a matter of disunity that would discourage the other tribes. It brought up memories of the spies of 10 tribes refusing to cross into the promised land 38 years earlier. It hinted at the fact that these two tribes cared more about their possessions than God’s covenant promise.

In a compromise, the tribes agree to send their men into the Promised Land armed for battle and support the military effort until the job was finished. Moses agrees to the terms, but then warns the leaders of the two tribes that if they fail to keep their end of the bargain “your sin will find you out.”

It is a sage warning that has stood the test of time for thousands of years, even before phone calls were recorded for quality and training purposes!

In the quiet this morning, I simply find my heart and mind wandering back through painful memories of getting caught in foolishness and tragic decision making. Of course, I’ve also learned that pain is a great teacher if I am willing to let it instruct me.

As I head into this, another day, Jesus’ words echo in my soul this morning:

“…there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.” Matthew 10:26 (NIV)

“For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.” Mark 4:22 (NIV)

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Chapter-a-Day

The Exodus Paradigm

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…rather, [Jesus] made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
Philippians 2:7 (NIV)

Like millions of people around the world, Wendy and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching The Chosen, a retelling of Jesus’ story by Angel Studios. We have told countless people who are interested in watching the series to make sure you gut through the first three or four episodes. We are not the only ones who found the opening episodes of the series a bit slow. The action and the story don’t seem to really get rolling until you’re a few episodes in.

About a year ago before season four was about to drop, Wendy and I went back to binge the first three seasons in preparation. Guess what? Suddenly, the first three or four episodes came entirely to life for us. They were amazing in ways we couldn’t see until we knew more of the story. There was so many meaningful story seeds planted in those first few episodes that wouldn’t germinate and take root until later episodes and seasons. We could only see them once more of the story had bloomed.

That’s how it goes with good stories, and the Great Story.

One of the things that I’ve experienced on this chapter-a-day journey, and through my perpetual meditations on the Great Story, is that I have come to realize that entire sections of the Story that I once dismissed or largely ignored are essential to understanding the entirety of the Story itself, as well as the story God is authoring in me.

For example, the Exodus story was once simply a Charlton Heston epic movie I got to stay up past my bedtime to watch as a kid every Easter. Even after becoming a disciple of Jesus and reading my way through the entire Great Story, I didn’t see the paradigm. By the way, I credit The Bible Project for helping me really see it.

And, now that I see it, I realize that it’s everywhere.

The Exodus paradigm is simple:

The setting is slavery.
There is a road out of slavery.
There is a road through the wilderness.
There is a road into a Promised Land.

In today’s chapter, Paul shares one of the most famous passages about who Jesus was on a cosmic spiritual level. As I read the passage for the millionth time in the quiet this morning, I found the Exodus story hiding in plain sight. Let me unpack it.

Paul writes,

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.

There’s the setting for Jesus’ own Exodus. He chose to empty Himself of the advantages equality with God and become a human, by very nature a servant. The Greek word also translates as “slave” in English.

And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

The road out for Jesus was being obedient in suffering and dying sacrificially for humanity. The road through the wilderness was not only through the suffering, but it was also through a wilderness we don’t talk much about except perhaps on a day called Holy Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. The road through the wilderness was through the grave. Jesus descended into hell and proclaimed “freedom” to those spirits who were imprisoned there (1 Peter 3:19).

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

The ascension was Jesus road into the Promise Land, to His eternal Kingdom where a throne awaited at the right hand of the Father Almighty.

So, in the quiet this morning, I am reminded that all good stories are a reflection of the Great Story. This means that my story is as well. Once enslaved in my sin, Jesus offered me a road out if I would surrender my life to Him. For almost 45 years He has led me through the wilderness that is my earthly journey. Like the Hebrew tribes, I’ve had to learn to trust God for my daily bread, resist the temptation to return to my chains, and have faith to follow Jesus into surprising and even scary places. Ultimately, He has promised that at the end of this wilderness I will cross through the Jordan River and into the Promised Land where He waits to welcome me to my new home.

The road out.
The road through.
The road in.

Time to lace ‘em up and hit the road through another Monday and into the wilderness of another work week.

Here we go!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Chapter-a-Day

The Bigger Picture

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The Bigger Picture (CaD Rev 15) – Wayfarer

I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.
Revelation 15:1 (NIV)

On a grand scale, the Great Story is about slavery.

I have observed that conversation about slavery in our modern American culture is typically confined to the injustice of American slavery with occasional nods to the slave industry that still exists around the globe. These are all earthbound conversations.

As I mentioned in a post last week, Jesus stated clearly that His mission on this world was about a Kingdom that is not of this world. And that mission was about freeing slaves:

“Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
John 8:34 (NIV)

On this chapter-a-day journey through John’s Revelation, what has struck me has been the continued parallels to the story of Moses, the Hebrews’ exodus from slavery in Egypt, the giving of the law, the tabernacle, and the journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land.

In today’s chapter, the Lamb (aka Jesus) and Moses stand by a “sea” in heaven and sing a victory song, just as Moses and the Hebrews sang a victory song after the defeat of their slave masters, the Egyptians, who pursued them and drown in the Red Sea. In Revelation it is the “beast” from the sea who pursued God’s people, but they overcame. John then sees a heavenly tabernacle, just like the tabernacle God had Moses construct in the wilderness. Just as the tabernacle of Moses filled with a cloud of God’s presence (Exodus 40:34), so is the heavenly tabernacle. Out of the cloud rises the final set in a trinity of judgments on the earth. We had the seven seals, then the seven trumpets, and now it will be seven bowls.

In the Exodus, ten plagues are sent on a hard-hearted Pharaoh and his people to justly free the Hebrews from their enslavement. In the same way, the plagues of Revelation are presented as a just spiritual reckoning for the Prince of this World (aka Satan), his hard-hearted followers, and the kingdoms of this world that have leveraged humanity’s enslavement to sin for their own pride, power, and pleasure. In Moses’ exodus, it was the “blood of the lamb” that protected the Hebrews from the angel of death. In Revelation, it is the “blood of the Lamb” that saves God’s people from the ultimate and impending “second death.”

In the quiet this morning, I find myself once again looking at the forest and not the trees. Earlier in my spiritual journey, I would read and study Revelation with my mind myopically focused on the earthbound events described within the text and what they might mean in terms of the earthly realities. I was only intent on understanding the smaller picture of what would happen on this earth. This time, my mind is seeing the bigger picture. I’m seeing the events described in the much broader context of where and how they fit in the overarching Great Story.

Slavery is a terrible reality on this earth. Slavery to sin is a terrible reality in the spirit realm.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve sinned and were kicked out of the Garden into an earthbound existence, enslaved to sin, subject to the Prince of this World, and doomed to die a physical death. Revelation is the final just judgment on humanity’s slave masters and the ultimate, once and for all liberation of God’s people from the shackles of sin in order to be led to an eternal Promised Land.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Go!

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Go! (CaD Jos 18) – Wayfarer

So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?
Joshua 18: 3 (NIV)

Early in my career, our company was contracted by a large, national corporation to produce and present a training program to all of their contact center employees across the nation. It was the largest project, to date, that our company had ever landed. And it was on me to write, produce, and present it.

I froze.

One of the things that I’ve learned about being an Enneagram Type Four is that there is a pessimism that runs deep in us. Perhaps that was what was gnawing at me as I drug my feet in getting started. I feared failure. I wasn’t sure I was up to a task this big and the lofty expectation of my superior and the client.

Today’s chapter begins with the setting up of the Hebrew’s traveling tent temple, called the Tabernacle, in a town called Shiloh which means “place of peace.” This is a significant act. Since it was created in the days of Moses and their exodus from slavery in Egypt, the Tabernacle has been the center of their camp wherever they went as they wandered in the wilderness. Now that they’ve settled into the Promised Land, the Tabernacle will have a fixed spot, and Shiloh is, roughly, at the center. It will remain at Shiloh for hundreds of years.

The setting up of the Tabernacle in a fixed spot is a sign of the beginning of permanence in the Promised Land, but there are still seven tribes who haven’t received their inheritance. Joshua asks them what they are waiting for, and this suggests that there was some hesitancy on their behalf. An allotment of land came with the expectation and responsibility to drive the remaining inhabitants from it. The tribes who are left are smaller in size and strength. The largest of the tribes like Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh, already had their allotments and were busy settling their own lands. The smaller tribes could not depend on the aid of all the fighting men these larger tribes had at their disposal. The hesitancy of the smaller tribes may have been simply that they feared they didn’t have enough fighting men and military strength to get the job done.

We celebrated the resurrection of Jesus just a few weeks ago. His resurrection appearances were scattered across about 40 days before He ascended to heaven and left His followers with the task of taking His message to the world. Talk about a monumental challenge of a task. And there was no Elon Musk among them. Twelve largely uneducated men with no worldly wealth or power were tasked by the Son of God with changing the world.

I find it fascinating that Jesus’ “great commission” to His followers started with the word “Go.” He had told them in the Garden the night before His crucifixion not to worry when they were drug before rulers and princes. They would be given what they need to say and the power to say it in the moment they needed it. The first step was to “go.”

And, that’s where I was stuck with my major work project. I froze. I was sitting still. I was paralyzed like the seven tribes, hoping that maybe someone else with more experience and knowledge would miraculously show up and do it for me. Fortunately, I had a wise and learned boss who saw what was happening. He kicked me from behind, then grabbed my hand and pulled me along until I found my momentum. Our client said it was the best, most creative, and most empowering corporate training he’d ever seen in his career.

Mission accomplished. Yet, it wouldn’t have happened with that kick from behind and a pull to get me moving forward. I learned through that experience that when I’m feeling that pessimistic paralysis my first step is simply to “go” and get moving forward.

For example, almost every weekday morning I sit down at my keyboard to write this chapter-a-day post. Many days I’m tired, my brain is fogged over, and I stare at a blank screen. If I sit there waiting for a fully formed and structured thought to form itself in my brain I’ll sit there all morning. I’ve learned to just “go.” I start typing, and the words begin to flow.

That’s what happened this morning, in fact. And here was are at the end of my post, and the end of another work week.

Go…have a good weekend.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Easy Way Out

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If we have found favor in your eyes,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”
Numbers 32:5 (NIV)

When I was a kid I was terrible at waiting for things. My sister, Jody, and I would always tell each other what we were getting for Christmas. I just had to know, even though it pretty much ruined Christmas morning as a time of pleasant surprises.

Driven by my appetites I was terribly impatient as a young person and typically wanted things now. Perhaps this developed from being the youngest sibling and watching others get to do things first while I had to wait until I was big enough or old enough. Perhaps it’s just part of my personality. Whatever the case, I can tell you that throughout my life journey when I was given a choice between the instant, easy gratification of a known quantity or the long, slow, patient wait for a promised, better pay-off down the line, I have typically always chosen the former. I’ve been very good at taking the easy-way out.

This trait has generally not served me well.

So it was with great interest that I read the story of the Hebrew tribes of Reuben, Gad in today’s chapter. If you’ve been following the larger story we know that many years before today’s chapter Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land God had promised them in the land of Canaan.

Back in those ancient days the land was largely made up of small city-states that controlled a small territory. Sometimes these towns would band together to form a larger, regional power in the area, but often each city-state would build a wall around their village and go it on their own.  In those days it was a dog-eat-dog world in which people groups were constantly invading and conquering one another. You were always at risk of a larger, stronger people showing up out of nowhere, conquering you, killing your entire population, and taking all of your possessions as plunder. If the Israelites wanted the Promised Land they would have to take it by conquest. It seems bloody and barbaric in our politically correct, modern Western world, but the ancient world of the near east was a bloody, barbaric place. It’s just the way it was.

A generation earlier, on their first visit to the Promised Land, Moses sent spies into the land to check things out. All but two of the spies were fearful and advised not starting a military campaign to take the land. Two spies, Joshua and Caleb, advised that the Israelites have faith in God and go for it. Because of the tribes’ lack of faith God said they’d continue to be a nomadic, wandering people for an entire generation before giving their children another chance.

As today’s chapter opens we’re setting up for the second chance. The Hebrew Tribes have approached the Jordan River and are once more looking out over the Promised Land. It’s right there for the taking, but it will require a hard campaign of conquest an no guarantee of victory. Now, the Reubenites and Gadites come to Moses and say, “We like this land we’re standing on. Perfect for our flocks. We’ll settle for this. Have fun with the conquest.”

It’s just like me as a little kid. “I’ll take the thing I can have right now. This land I can see and we already possess and I don’t have to worry about conquering? It will be way more easy. I’ll take the easy way out, thank you.”

Moses immediately thinks, “It’s deja vu all over again.”

When confronted with what they were doing, the Reubenites and Gadites strike a pledge that they will settle the land they were on, but would send their men on the military campaign to support their fellow tribes in the conquest. Moses agrees, but I can feel an eery foreshadowing of problems to come…

  • Will the Reubenites and Gadites really be committed to supporting the conquest when their wives and children are back on the other side of the Jordan?
  • Will the Reubenites and Gadites leave their best fighters to protect their families and possessions and send their worst fighters on conquest? How’s that going to go over with the other tribes?
  • Once the Promise Land is secured will the Reubenites and Gadites be pissed off when they realize that they settled for less when they could have had much better land if they’d just been patient and held-out like the other tribes?

[Cue: red flags waving, alarm bells going off, and a loud buzzer]

All of the hard lessons this impatient person has learned along my life journey tells me this is not going to end well.

This morning I’m reminded of some of my own mistakes when I chose immediate, easy gratification over a much better, promised pay-off that required patience, fortitude and/or hard work. Some of these mistakes were silly and insignificant, but others were tragically life changing.

I’ve learned over time to recognize the pattern in myself. I’ve developed more patience. Having experienced some really good “promised land” rewards and delayed gratification has given me positive reinforcement on which to draw upon. I’m more likely to make wise choices today than I was in my younger years. Nevertheless, I’ve learned that some natural inclinations never go away. I just have to learn to recognize and manage the moment when I’m tempted to take the easy way out.

Chapter-a-Day

You Gotta Have Heart

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“And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’”
Joshua 14:9 (NRSV)

“You gotta have heart,
Miles and miles and miles of heart!”

So go the lyrics of the musical Damn Yankees, a Broadway retelling of the Faust legend set around the hapless Washington Senators baseball team. The song came to mind this morning as I read Caleb’s plea to Joshua, reminding him that he’d “wholeheartedly” followed God.

Caleb had been one of the men chosen by Moses to spy out the land some 45 years earlier. Caleb was all for crossing the Jordan River and taking the land, but his partners gave a fear-producing account of what they saw and the campaign was delayed 40 years. But, for his wholehearted faith, Moses promised Caleb the land they’d spied out as his tribe’s inheritance. In today’s chapter, it’s time for the promise to be fulfilled these many years later.

Two things I’m reminded of this morning as I ponder Caleb’s story:

First: Caleb was rewarded for his heart – not his military prowess, his  perfect execution of God’s commands, his moral standing, his financial generosity, his intellect, his social savvy, or his popularity. As I journey through God’s Message I find, time and time again, God’s desire is for our hearts. If He has my whole heart, everything else will flow from there.

Second: Sometimes the fulfillment of God’s promises and purposes are a long time in coming. Caleb waited 45 years for his promised inheritance. David was anointed king when he was a kid, but didn’t see the promised fulfilled until he was 40.  Abraham and Sarah were in their 90’s before God miraculously produced their promised offspring. In a culture of instant gratification, I so easily get impatient and lose faith. It’s good to be reminded that God’s promises can take a long time to be fulfilled. Those with heart never stop trusting in that fulfillment.

By the way, and speaking of being wholehearted in having faith: The Cubs are 5-1!

Everybody sing!

“You’ve gotta have hope
Mustn’t sit around and mope
Nothin’s half as bad as it may appear
Wait’ll next year and hope”

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Deuteronomy 3

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Harry Belafonte 1954
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At that same time, I begged God: “God, my Master, you let me in on the beginnings, you let me see your greatness, you let me see your might—what god in Heaven or Earth can do anything like what you’ve done! Please, let me in also on the endings, let me cross the river and see the good land over the Jordan, the lush hills, the Lebanon mountains.”  Deuteronomy 3:23-25 (MSG)

When I was young I was called to preach. I’ll spare you the details of how it happened. It’s a story for another day. Preaching and teaching was not an ability I developed or worked at. It was something that I just did and I was good at it. At the same time, I had several friends who were gifted singers and musicians. I loved the way music was so easy for them and I envied the way they could stand up and sing or play and move the audience with their music in powerful ways.

And so, because I envied my friends musical ability I would try hard to sing well and to play music. It was agonizing at first. With practice I became decent at singing and playing. I became competent at it, but I will never be a gifted vocalist or musician. I watched as some of my gifted musical friends tried desperately to communicate through the spoken word. In concerts they insisted on sharing long winded stories and talks between songs. It was agonizing. They weren’t gifted communicators. People wanted them to stop talking and play their music.

Along the journey I’ve noticed this pattern in people. We envy the gifts and abilities of others while failing to appreciate out own. God gives each of us our own gifts and abilities and calls us to serve in a unique way based on those gifts and abilities. We do the same thing with our callings. Moses wanted desperately to cross the Jordan and lead the people into the Promised Land, but that was Joshua’s job; It was what Joshua was called to do. Moses’ calling was to get the people out of Egypt, give them the law, and lead them to the river.

We too often treat our gifts and callings like we do our material possessions. We get bored with what we have and are enamored with what others have. Today I’m reminded that I’ve got to do what I’m gifted and called to do while celebrating what others are gifted and called to do.

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