March 6, 2006 - Deuteronomy 1-2 and Mark 10:1-31
Since God has been speaking to me lately about entering His rest, this passage was especially meaningful to me today. I hope that God spoke to you in a wonderful way, too.
In chapter 1 Moses goes back over what had happened to the Israelites before, since they are camped just outside the Promised Land after 40 years of wilderness wandering. He does not want them to make the same mistake again. This time He wants to make it clear that God wants them to possess the Land. (v.8) He gives them several reasons why they should be able to trust God and to enter His rest. First, he tells them not to fear or to be discouraged. (v.21) These are the tools of Satan to keep God's people from following Him. Satan is very good at knowing how to cause us to become fearful or discouraged, but we must resist him at every turn. Remember, God does not cause us to fear anything but Him, and He does not want us to be discouraged.
Next, Moses points out that God will fight for them. (v.30) This is especially important since they were not seasoned warriors. God knew that. He would do the fighting, if they would trust Him. Why should they believe He would fight for them? He had carried them through the wilderness years. (v.31) He had gone before them to search out a place for them to camp, and He had directed them daily by the fire and the cloud. (.v.33) How much more proof could they be looking for? Now, it was simply time to trust Him as their fathers had failed to do 40 years earlier. The same is true for us today. Even if we have never known anyone who fully trusted God and received the blessings of resting in the Lord, we should be diligent to do it now. He has already done so much for us. While we have been wandering in our wilderness, He has still taken care of us. (2:7) How much better it will be when we enter His rest and receive His best blessings!
Mark 10 contains two stark realities for us to consider. The first is that anyone who divorces and remarries commits adultery. There are no exceptions mentioned here in Mark 10. What is God saying? This is a serious sin. It is breaking one of the Ten Commandments. Some people say that there are worse sins than divorce and remarriage. I am not sure you can rank sins like that, but I know if you can rank them, breaking one of the Ten Commandments has to be right up there at the top. Then, the rich young ruler shows us that riches are a great deterrent to trusting God. They are not necessarily a blessing like the Israelites thought. Therefore, we have to be willing to sell it all and follow Christ before we can be saved. That is receiving Him as Lord. He may not require us to sell it all like He did the rich young ruler, but He requires all of us to surrender to Him as Lord, and that amounts to the same thing. Remember, Jesus is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all, and we must confess Him as Lord to be saved. (Romans 10:9,10)
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 3-4 and Mark 10:32-52.
In chapter 1 Moses goes back over what had happened to the Israelites before, since they are camped just outside the Promised Land after 40 years of wilderness wandering. He does not want them to make the same mistake again. This time He wants to make it clear that God wants them to possess the Land. (v.8) He gives them several reasons why they should be able to trust God and to enter His rest. First, he tells them not to fear or to be discouraged. (v.21) These are the tools of Satan to keep God's people from following Him. Satan is very good at knowing how to cause us to become fearful or discouraged, but we must resist him at every turn. Remember, God does not cause us to fear anything but Him, and He does not want us to be discouraged.
Next, Moses points out that God will fight for them. (v.30) This is especially important since they were not seasoned warriors. God knew that. He would do the fighting, if they would trust Him. Why should they believe He would fight for them? He had carried them through the wilderness years. (v.31) He had gone before them to search out a place for them to camp, and He had directed them daily by the fire and the cloud. (.v.33) How much more proof could they be looking for? Now, it was simply time to trust Him as their fathers had failed to do 40 years earlier. The same is true for us today. Even if we have never known anyone who fully trusted God and received the blessings of resting in the Lord, we should be diligent to do it now. He has already done so much for us. While we have been wandering in our wilderness, He has still taken care of us. (2:7) How much better it will be when we enter His rest and receive His best blessings!
Mark 10 contains two stark realities for us to consider. The first is that anyone who divorces and remarries commits adultery. There are no exceptions mentioned here in Mark 10. What is God saying? This is a serious sin. It is breaking one of the Ten Commandments. Some people say that there are worse sins than divorce and remarriage. I am not sure you can rank sins like that, but I know if you can rank them, breaking one of the Ten Commandments has to be right up there at the top. Then, the rich young ruler shows us that riches are a great deterrent to trusting God. They are not necessarily a blessing like the Israelites thought. Therefore, we have to be willing to sell it all and follow Christ before we can be saved. That is receiving Him as Lord. He may not require us to sell it all like He did the rich young ruler, but He requires all of us to surrender to Him as Lord, and that amounts to the same thing. Remember, Jesus is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all, and we must confess Him as Lord to be saved. (Romans 10:9,10)
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 3-4 and Mark 10:32-52.