Wednesday, 3/18/2015

“I can hardly wait for tomorrow, it means a new life for me each and every day.”  ~ Stanley Kunitz

DEUTERONOMY 32, 33

The final blessings...

29Blessed are you, Israel!

Who is like you,

a people saved by the Lord?

He is your shield and helper

and your glorious sword.

Your enemies will cower before you,

and you will tread on their heights.”

LUKE 1:1-23

Luke begins his book with setting the stage for Christ...

12When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.

JOURNAL

The end and the beginning...It is winding down now for Moses.  His final words are being delivered, the warnings and the blessings.  Moses only gets to see the land that he has labored to get the Israelites to...he doesn't get to experience it or enjoy it, he gets that only in his mind and heart.  It is a reminder that the blessings of life are all not in this life and are not always "fair".  

Zechariah is blessed with a son, but that son will meet and experience a very difficult life on this earth.  John is a social misfit and outcast who ultimately is beheaded while in prison.  So when it comes to reaping the rewards for obedience...this life is not the place to put our hope and trust.

This is a hard truth because so many things in our culture are geared to receiving immediate gratification and just rewards for a job well done.  Yet God never promises that in worldly terms...so often the most loving and obedient end up getting a horrible outcome and reward.   And here is where the Bible differs and is so counter-cultural.  Our reward is not material because we do not get a reward or a medal...we get the love of God.

14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:14-16)