God chose Joshua as the new leader of the people after Moses' death. Both men entered the tabernacle together, one last time for Moses, and the first time for Joshua, to visit with God. The news from the Lord was not good. the people would rebel and God would hide His face from their evil. He would remove His hand of protection and they would suffer and wonder why.
Isn't that how we are? When we as Christians sin - and make a habit of it - God has to distance Himself from that. Then we wonder why we suffer.
Psalm 131 is short, to the point, and illustrates how our lives should be. What a beautiful, profound, word picture! A weaned child is not a helpless baby, but is still dependent on his mother and knows it. That's the spiritual place where we need to be. Not helpless, but not self-sufficient, either. And always aware of Who we are dependent upon.
In Ephesians 2, Paul writes that the blood of Jesus Christ made it possible for Gentiles to be redeemed. He broke down the wall between Jews and Gentiles and made everyone equal at the foot of the cross. Verse 4 tells us that God, out of His rich mercy, because of His love, made us alive together with Christ.
The bad news was that the people of Israel would not remain faithful to the Lord and that Gentiles would have no way to come to Him.
The good news is that Jesus Christ died for all. We all get a new start. And once we do, let's remember our dependence on the Lord. We don't want to go down the road of rebellion.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
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