Living in the Spirit
October 20, 2014

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. The Lord said to him, ‘This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your descendants”; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.’— Deuteronomy 34:1-4

Thus began the saga of the Israelites as they entered the land which their ancestors had left some 400 years earlier. We live with the consequences of this momentous occasion to this day. The place names should be very familiar to these new arrivals as some are the names of their great grand fathers or great uncles way up on their family tree. How were they to claim and use these resources God gave to them? What does it mean when God provides? How are we to claim and use the resources God gives to us each day?

Today we begin a quest in our scriptures to struggle with these questions. It is an appropriate time in history to consider this as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are emulating in many ways the actions of the Israelites as they reclaimed the land that was given to them by God. Frankly, I do not want to travel this road. It is uncomfortable for me. It reminds me of how I felt when I discover the list of slaves left to my great, great grandfather’s children in his will. He probably believed that slavery was Biblically sanctioned. Or how I felt when I found the deed to a great, great, great grandfather’s homestead which had become available because of the defeat of Blackhawk and the subsequent seizure of the Sauk tribal lands. He probably considered it a part of his manifest destiny. I, however, do believe, that if we don’t take the time to revisit history and learn from it, we are indeed destined to repeat it.

The issues become complicated because I do trust that God provides for us, but I also have faith that God provides for all of God’s children. I do not know how that works and I doubt that I need to know, but I do need to understand when I cross the line from accepting what God has provided and take more than my share. I do need to learn when and how to appropriately share with others what God has provided to me. And we the people of the United States of America need to gain that same level of understanding, if we are to be contributing citizens in our world today.

Prayer: Lord, expand our understanding of your provision. Help us to see your way as we grapple with the truths provided in your ancient scriptures. Amen

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.