Clockwise: Joe, Gabrielle, Kim, Christina, Jonathan, Sarah, Alleson, TJNormally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the Lord had commanded him to say.” Deuteronomy 1:2-3 (NLT)
“Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce. Special orders don't upset us. All we ask is that you let us serve it your way!”
Do you remember that jingle from the mid-70s? It fed completely (no pun intended) into the me-centered culture of the day. My way. From Frank Sinatra to Burger King, that was the cry of the generations. Come to think of it, that has been the cry of generations from the very beginning.
Doing things our own way is the modus operandi from birth to death. And though this doesn’t necessarily mean we do bad things, it does mean we are self-centered and selfish in our pursuits.
That was my story before Christ. I was a good kid doing good things, but they were my things. I had no thought about God’s purposes or plans. I had my route marked out and I was moving forward. I was pursuing my life my way.
I recently passed through the book of Deuteronomy as I am reading through the Bible this year. This book records the final months of Moses’ life and takes place as Israel is camped across from the Promised Land – for the second time. That’s why the opening verses of Deuteronomy are so incredible.
Forty years earlier, God’s people were at Mount Sinai. There they heard from God and received the Law. From this place, they would set out to enter the Promised Land. Mount Sinai was 150 miles away from the Jordan River, the entrance to the land flowing with milk and honey. It would take about 11 days to make this journey.
But instead of 11 days, it took 40 years. Why? Because they chose to do things their own way.
They did indeed arrive at the Jordan River 11 days after leaving Mount Sinai, but then they decided that they were not able to take what God had given them. They were unwilling to follow God’s plan and instead grumbled and complained. Then they made up a plan of their own and decided to go back to Egypt. But for the next forty years they wandered in the desert until the unbelieving, unfaithful generation died off. Their way didn’t work.
So, what is God’s plan? What is God’s way? Just a few chapters later in Deuteronomy, Moses answers these questions for us.
“And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” Deuteronomy 10:12-13
I encourage you to ponder what God says through Moses. Here I believe we find the basic aspects to govern and guide our relationship with God.
Fear Him – Follow Him – Love Him – Serve Him – Obey Him.
I believe we know God’s way and can choose to follow His way. I believe that’s the difference between a journey that takes 11 days and one that takes 40 years.
