The Second Time Around

Today’s reading Deuteronomy 1:1 – 33

 

It seems to me that God is talking directly to me through these scriptures. In today’s reading Moses is charging the tribe of Israel to go into the Promised Land. This is the beginning of his farewell speech. The sermon that Moses is given is titled Deuteronomy which literally means “The Second Law“. This is the second time God is speaking through Moses to the tribe of Israel to give them God’s commandments. This is at the end of the 40 years that the tribe of Israel since they have been freed from Egypt and has been in the wilderness.

The time that the tribe spent in the wilderness for these forty years was not in vain, this time that they had there was for reflection and understanding God‘s purpose for the people. Actually, God had the Promised Land ready for them directly after they exited Egypt.  Moses sent twelve elders or leaders of the tribe to scout out the promised land.  From the reconnaissance, ten of the twelve hesitated and did not want to go to the promised land because of the perceived risk and dangers( Numbers 13) . Because of the majority of the leaders of the tribe, the people had to endure 40 years of reflection and endurance,  before  they could go to the promised land.

In Deuteronomy, this is the beginning of the entrance to the promised land. This is the second time that the tribe has been given the instructions to go into a claim the promised land. This is a call to action that we must not forget or put aside. God is calling us to do things a second time. We cannot allow others to influence us when God has promised us amazing things. God is calling us to move , get up and go, and keep moving. We may have outside influences that try to stumble us or try to change us, but we have to be aligned and in tune with God to move toward the promise.

Deutoronomy 1: 5-8 

Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

 

Time to go: 

  • In this particular passage Moses is giving us time to go. We have to move, we cannot think about any of the risks or dangers. We must act now. We must move now. God has it ready for us and is expecting us to move. The time to go is now.

Get out of your way

  • A lot of times we overthink and over analyze situations. Is this the right time? Do we have enough money? I have to finish these other things first. I’m not healthy enough. What about the lights in the house? Did we turn off the gas to the stove? Who’s going to take care of the yard and take out the trash? I don’t have the right shoes. I don’t have enough clothes…. All of these are obstacles that we place in front of ourselves when God has already planned and provided everything that we would need on the journey and everything that we would need at the end of the Journey. Everything that we could possibly think I’ve got it already thought about that and has had planted and thriving for us before we even knew the journey was going to be made.

Move forward

  • God wants us to move forward. We know what’s in the past. We know where we have come from. We have been practicing for this journey for a long time, the children of Israel practice for forty years. Do you need 40 years to practice when God has it ready for us now?

This is a passage and a message for me in particular. There have been things that I have put on the back burner for quite some time or I have allowed obstacles to slow my progress. But God is showing me that the time is from now to move all these things for the better of me. Is God speaking to you as well? If I’m telling you that is time to move on things that you have put on the side? Has God prepared you for a journey that he’s ready for you to take? Is this the second, third, or fourth time that God has revealed this to you? When will you take his prompts and move forward?

Be blessed