Not Because of, But In spite of….
During my campaign for City Council one of my strong supporters has been John Clarke. John has served in the past as a City Councilor and County Commissioner. However, he and his wife among a few master photographers in Colorado. He took pictures of our wedding, our 25th anniversary and our daughter’s wedding. Since we celebrated 40 years of marriage in 2016, perhaps we can consider the picture John took of Debbie and me as another in our collection.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…. “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you.” Deuteronomy 9:4 ESV
There is no match for the greatest of God. There is no foe that can stand against God and His purposes and the judgments He executes. The rebellious generation of God’s people feared the “giants” in the land. They viewed their walled cities as obstacles too great to overcome.
So as the Lord through Moses prepares another generation to inherit what the previous one refuse to, He says,
“Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you.” Deuteronomy 9:3 ESV
You can trust in the Lord’s power and know His judgments are “true and righteous altogether.” The Lord holds individuals and nations to account. The promises of the Lord to Abraham and his descendants were at the same time God’s judgment against the nations whose sin had created an out cry before God, just as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
God’s people became God’s tool, the sword of the Lord. As a result, when the nations would flee before them the response was not to be “how great we are” but “how awesome and powerful is our God.”
The Lord is looking for faithful, but not perfect people whom He can use to accomplish His purposes. God’s people still had the inclination to be “stubborn” – yet the Lord was going to use them to confirm His promises and to show the He is faithful to His Word.
Moses recounts the failures of the past generation beginning with the golden calf. He does so not to shame, but to remind. He asks and answers an important question,
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require 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 keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.” (Deuteronomy 10:12-14 ESV)
The challenge to God’s people was to avoid being like the people of the land of Canaan and to receive the same punishment the Lord was bringing on the inhabitants of the land. They would avoid that error by fearing the Lord and demonstrating their love for God, through living by the Lord ways. God’s desire for His people then and now is always for “our good.”
Prayer for today…. Lord when you work through us, help us to remember that it is not how “great we are” but how “great You are!” Allow us to always remain humbled by the fact that You use us for Your purposes, even knowing our own failures and temptations.