One Way Road

Numbers 32: 11                    NIV

Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promise on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I quoted from Dr. Jim Richard’s book How To Stop the Pain earlier this week. In that book Richard’s teaches that the way to happiness and a life of security and freedom is in following Jesus wholeheartedly. I would suggest that advice shows the way to the promised land that our Father has for us.

God is not trying to keep us out of the promise. He is trying to lead us into receiving all of His good gifts. Unfortunately, sometimes we quit on Him or do not go in the direction where the provision lies. I often think of it like the old Pony Express system. The riders needed to follow a prescribed route because that is where there supplies were stationed. God has already provided everything we need also but it is on the prearranged path. God has told us that He has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29: 11) and He has laid out a course and provisioned that route so that we arrive in the promised land on time, nourished and without injury. We just need to stay on track.

How is that actually accomplished though? We speak and write a bit figuratively so how does this apply to real life? I believe there is a practical truth revealed in today’s verse. Although we are living in different times and in a different situation than the Israelites I believe the truth and the revelation is in following Jesus wholeheartedly. I also believe there are several layers of truth in that statement.

First, there are a lot of lukewarm Christians out there. You know them. Some of them even attend your church regularly. Sometimes I fear one of them looks back at me from her home in my mirror. How do we prevent ourselves from being what I call a “Cultural Christian”? Somehow our Christianity ought to color our lives. There ought to be a difference in our lives since Jesus came into it and I do not mean that we attend church every week. A cultural Christian can do that. No, this is a heart matter. There ought to be something changed about us so that Jesus, his current thoughts, his teachings and his example are important to us. Do we really consider what it means to be under his lordship on a daily basis? Do we let him affect our thinking and decisions? Do we talk to him as if he really is our very best friend? Are we following him wholeheartedly or maybe just halfheartedly?

Second, as I said, this is a heart matter. Apparently we are supposed to follow Jesus with our hearts, even our whole hearts. So, our life in Christ is an internal matter. It is not for others to determine the commitment of our hearts. This wholehearted devotion to our professed Lord is not external, in other words, it is not about the things we do. It is not even mental as in study. A heart that loves Jesus will certainly show itself in study and actions but they are only the product. We are meant to have a heart connection with Jesus. He is supposed to influence our hearts and perhaps we even affect his. This is not an intellectual relationship, it is not a work relationship. We are supposed to follow Jesus with our hearts. For some people this is challenging because we have anesthetized our hearts in a vain attempt not to feel or express emotion. But we have learned that we will not enter the promised land if we do not follow Jesus wholeheartedly. This is not because our Father doesn’t want us reaping all the blessings of the promised land. It is just simple logistics. The way to the promised land is through Jesus and the way to Jesus is through the heart. It’s just how it is.

There is a way. The way has been marked out for us. Supplies have been stationed all along the way so that we will always have our needs met. However, there is only one way whether we like it or not and that is in following Jesus, his ways and his teachings with our whole heart.

I Spy . . .

Judges 6: 9

And I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land.

You know the story of the Israelites. God freed them from Egyptian slavery and led them through the desert to the Promised Land. He was with them at all times. He routed their enemies and gave them the chosen land. And yet, most of the people who journeyed through the desert never entered the Promised Land. They died in the desert because of their unbelief. How tragic! God defeated the enemy. He led them, fed them and gave them water. He emptied the land for them and yet they failed to enter in.

Even as I lament those Israelites who stopped short of receiving the promise I am brought up short by the reality of present day faith. How many of us are failing to enter into the Promised Land? God has made us many promises. He has provided food and drink, dispossessed the land of our enemies, prepared a table before us and all we have to do is follow him obediently and faithfully. But so often we look at the land and see the giants instead of the promise. We look at the enemy or the desert and focus our full attention on those things when we should be filling our vision with the land which is flowing with milk and honey. 

Only two of the original twelve Israelite spies were able to move into the land God had given the Israelites (Numbers 14: 22 – 24). The others were too busy talking about the giants even though they admitted that the land was everything God promised. I read recently, “You become what you behold,” (Richards, Moving Your Invisible Boundaries, P. 141). Ten of those spies saw themselves as grasshoppers and so they were. Two of them saw the promise of God and that was all they needed. They believed God and applied their faith to what He said and they got the Promised Land.

God has driven out the enemy before us too. Jesus did that for us. We didn’t even have to use our faith for that. But now in order to receive all that Jesus has won for us we must believe with our hearts. Your heart is your faith center, not your brain. We can have everything God promised us but we must put our believers in gear. We have to decide that we are going to believe our Father and trust Him. If we will do that, we can have the Promised Land. I want that for us. Then all people will see how mighty is our God.