Day 92
Numbers 33:1-34:29, Luke 9:10-27, Proverbs 8:22-31
Forty years in the desert is a long time, it was not necessarily all strict "desert" conditions but it was forty years in the wilderness, forty years as nomads without a real home. We looked yesterday at trusting God, and although there was the odd whinge along the way, there must have been a heck of a lot of trust and faith going on to trust God throughout this journey. Yesterday saw a couple of tribes wanted to settle down before the promised land, and this is the first real instance of that, right at the end.
Today also gives us a great deal of detail about where the people went on this mammoth journey but also the where they are to settle. In this conversation with Moses, God goes into quite precise detail about where the borders are to lie. It would have been quite easy to say, "go and settle the land, the borders are as far as you can stretch them". Battles have been fought over borders since we had separate nations and tribes, and this could have just been another case of that. But God is interested in the detail of the people, he has cared for them and loved them throughout this journey and now he wants to make sure that even the fine details are taken care of. Nothing is too small for our God to take note.
5,000 people are sitting in front of Jesus and they are hungry. The disciples have one option, which is every man for themselves, off into the local villages to get food. Jesus however cares for each and every one of them and so instructs the disciples to feed them, no one is to go hungry. And there is a food related them for at the end of the Gospel reading Jesus says that some will not even taste death before they see the Kingdom of God. Jesus has just been declared the Christ for all people and yet the relationship with God and entry into the Kingdom is a personal thing and Jesus treats each person individually, this is a very personal comment and each disciple will have taken it to heart.
The Christ of all people and all time is before us. We may be hungry, we may feel as though we are out in the wilderness and yet he is reaching out to us, he has set the boundaries around us and he provides the food we need to survive. We need to continue to put our trust in him, even when we might not be able to see an end to the hunger and the wilderness. No matter how you feel right now Jesus is interested in the very detail of your life, give it to him and allow him to lead you on the journey.
Forty years in the desert is a long time, it was not necessarily all strict "desert" conditions but it was forty years in the wilderness, forty years as nomads without a real home. We looked yesterday at trusting God, and although there was the odd whinge along the way, there must have been a heck of a lot of trust and faith going on to trust God throughout this journey. Yesterday saw a couple of tribes wanted to settle down before the promised land, and this is the first real instance of that, right at the end.
Today also gives us a great deal of detail about where the people went on this mammoth journey but also the where they are to settle. In this conversation with Moses, God goes into quite precise detail about where the borders are to lie. It would have been quite easy to say, "go and settle the land, the borders are as far as you can stretch them". Battles have been fought over borders since we had separate nations and tribes, and this could have just been another case of that. But God is interested in the detail of the people, he has cared for them and loved them throughout this journey and now he wants to make sure that even the fine details are taken care of. Nothing is too small for our God to take note.
5,000 people are sitting in front of Jesus and they are hungry. The disciples have one option, which is every man for themselves, off into the local villages to get food. Jesus however cares for each and every one of them and so instructs the disciples to feed them, no one is to go hungry. And there is a food related them for at the end of the Gospel reading Jesus says that some will not even taste death before they see the Kingdom of God. Jesus has just been declared the Christ for all people and yet the relationship with God and entry into the Kingdom is a personal thing and Jesus treats each person individually, this is a very personal comment and each disciple will have taken it to heart.
The Christ of all people and all time is before us. We may be hungry, we may feel as though we are out in the wilderness and yet he is reaching out to us, he has set the boundaries around us and he provides the food we need to survive. We need to continue to put our trust in him, even when we might not be able to see an end to the hunger and the wilderness. No matter how you feel right now Jesus is interested in the very detail of your life, give it to him and allow him to lead you on the journey.
erm couple of things, luke 9 vs23 it says you must deny yourself and take up your daily cross. denying yourseelf is asking for forgiveness etc, but what is taking up our daily cross?
ReplyDeletesecondly its a bit unrelated to the bible but nowadays God doesn't really show up in the community and i heard that coincidence is gods way of remaining anomylous but why doesn't he like turn up a bit more and then everyone will believe etc?
love dan (hamilton)
The other side to denying self is to put ourselves second or even last. God first, then others, then us. For the disciples and people then, Jesus was saying give up your own selfish thoughts and come to me completely.
ReplyDeleteTaking up our own cross is to make a sacrifice for God. There are many things that we can give up but above all we are giving ourselves to God. The other side of it is that some of the disciples did actualy take up a cross, but for us that may be a bit of ridicule for the Gospel, or somehting like that. We are unlikely to be called to die for Jesus but we are called to take up whatever "cross" it takes to fully follow him.
Some people do indeed talk of coincidences as God-incidences. We can never know the plans of God, or why he doesn't seem to be showing up much. For me though, it is more important to acknowledge that we do not know when he shows up, we cannot actually see all the times he does actually show up, which is probably a lot. This relates quite wonderfully to todays readings and the stuff written for day 93. If we want to see God in the community more then the church has to get out there and be seen as God in the comminity. We as individual Christians also need to go that extra mile more often and be seen as God in the community. Hope that helps.