Promised Land

I received a new Bible for my birthday!  I had noticed that Bibles were now available with extra wide margins perfect for taking notes.  I researched and compared and finally made a decision.  To be honest, my "ideal Bible" has yet to be created: wide margins, thicker paper, a few helpful commentary type notes at the bottom… you know, the all inclusive Bible.  The Bible that would be awful to carry to church or pack in a suitcase due to the size and weight!  I'm happy with what I chose.  I'm enjoying reading God's Word, and when I gain insight, writing a note right next to the verse so that I'm reminded of revealed truth the next time I read that passage!  I'm making connections as I create my own cross referencing, looking up verses that have similar ideas or phrases.  I'm delighting in the wonder of learning more about God Almighty from  His precious Word.

I recently  participated in a short study on the Shema, the prayer the Israelites prayed every morning and every evening.  It's found in Deuteronomy 6.  "Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  These words I am giving you today are to be in your heart.  Repeat them to your children.  Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead.  Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates." (verse 4-9, CSB) It's a fascinating passage of scripture, especially when you begin figuring out what the Hebrew words used really mean.  Talk about a fresh perspective!

This passage came up in my quiet time as part of a larger passage to be read.  When I noticed the reference, my immediate thought was, 'Oh! I know this!'  I think a part of my brain began to check out a bit as if there was nothing new to learn.  I'm so thankful that God's Word is living and active.  There is never a reason to check out, no matter how much I've studied a story, verse or passage.  God ALWAYS has something fresh to teach me, to reveal to me about who He is and how He wants to express His love to me.  Before the actual Shema verses, the preceding verses talk about the fact that the Israelites would soon be entering the Promised Land.  In Deuteronomy 6:3 it says, "Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow [God's statutes and commands], so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey."

I did some cross-reference reading and I was led to read Deuteronomy 11:8-12.  Again the children of Israel are instructed to keep every command; God wants for them to enjoy living a long life in the land He was planning  to give them, this land flowing with milk and honey.  I've heard others talk about our individual Promised Land; that God has magnificent plans for each of us that is comparable in idea to what He had planned for the Israelites.  I like that idea and in the past I've created in my mind a picture of what a land flowing with milk and honey looks like for me!  I've read the story about the Israel spies checking out Canaan and bringing back the huge grape vine. I know that the Promised Land was to provide for the Israelites giving them freedom and stability.  When I have translated that to my personal Promised Land, I've envisioned prosperity, a life of work that is satisfying but not back breaking, a sense of smoothness and ease, a Pinterest worthy life. Deuteronomy 11:10-12 brought a totally different perspective!

"For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by hand as in a vegetable garden.  But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky.  It is a land the Lord your God cares for.  He is always watching over it from the beginning to the end of the year."

The land promised to the children of Israel was totally different than the land they had been living in and had become accustomed.  I gather from the passage, in Egypt they sowed their seed and irrigated, they had control of how well things would flourish. They had lived along the Nile where the soil was rich, perfect for growing what they wanted to eat. Not so in their new Promised Land. Their new land would not be open and flat.  It would have mountains and valleys.  As I began to consider the differences I realized that the Promised Land held for them a very distinct learning curve.  It could easily be a mixture of easy and hard experiences. There would be areas similar to what they already knew and there would be areas where they wondered how to make anything grow or survive.  There would be indescribable beauty and the fear of the unknown.  And there would be so much out of their control since water would come by rain from the sky and not irrigation.  In the Promised Land, God is the one who cares for the land (verse 12).  The Israelites would need to depend completely on whatever God decided, how God would choose to care for the land.  They would have to truly believe that "He is always watching over [the land] from the beginning to the end of the year."  I was struck by the fact that the Promised Land was not a land of ease and abundance as much as it was a land where they would need to always rely on God. 

That changes my idea of what my personal Promised Land might look like.  I'm convinced my Promised Land has mountains and valleys.  God knows what I need.  He's aware there are times I need the view and the respite that being on the mountain provides.  He is also so knowing of when my soul needs to be molded and reshaped by a valley experience so that I never lose sight of the truth that He is the one to always be watching over things in my Promised Land, and that I am not the one in control.  In my Promised Land, I need to be anchored in the truth that my God will provide exactly what I need.  He will send rain when rain really is needed.  He is always watching over me, from "the beginning to the end of the year."  I can trust Him.  I may need to remind my heart of miracles He has performed: ones in my own life, ones I hear about from others, ones I read about in His story, the Bible. My Promised Land is only a land of promise when I carefully obey God's commands and love Him with all my heart, soul and strength. My Land of Promise is not the Pinterest worthy life I had carefully constructed in my imagination, but a life of surrender and complete dependence on the grace, love and care of a Loving Heavenly Father. 

My new Bible is revealing truth that has been in every Bible I have ever owned or read.  I'm thankful that God provides rain when my soul is thirsty.  I'm thankful God is faithful to care for me from the beginning to the end of the year, year after year after year.  I'm thankful for a birthday present that draws me closer to Christ and keeps anchoring the truth "The Lord our God, the Lord is one." I'm thankful for a Promised Land where God provides and God reigns. 

Sustained

We have a big tree in our back yard that gives amazing shade.  It's a walnut tree.  I've learned that walnut trees are not my favorite.  In case you are unaware, walnut trees leave walnuts.  The squirrels in our yard love our tree.  They like to hide walnuts … EVERYWHERE.  We find them tucked in all sorts of odd places that make one wonder how bright squirrels, well, aren't!  The shade our tree provides is wonderful, and the leaves stay on the tree longer than any other tree in the entire neighborhood.  This is good: if you have an especially sunny fall.  And bad: because the leaves fall literally all at once, and, without fail, AFTER the date the city comes by to pick up those extra trash bags filled with leaves.  I obviously have a love/hate relationship with the big tree in our backyard. 

I can trust that tree to not fall over though.  It seems especially solid.  The branches sway a bit in the wind, but the trunk is thick and strong.  I don't know much about walnut trees, and I admit, I don't feel the urge to research the particulars.  I assume though, that the roots for our tree run deep, perhaps they even spread out.  I think this particularly because we are often having to cut new tree shoots that seem to pop up all over our backyard. 

The Bible refers to trees, though I don't think walnut trees are referred to very often.  (I did look that up!  A walnut tree is referred to in Song of Solomon 6.  Who knew?!) Now olive trees, that's a different story!  Romans 11:17,18 says, "Now if some  of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree, do not  boast that you are better than those branches.  But if you do boast -- you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you."  Let me just say that Romans 11 is confusing to me.  I understand part of the gist of what Paul is saying, and I'm not the one to come to for a complete analysis of what he is saying.  In the two verses referenced, I know I'm one of the wild olive branches.  I kinda like that (don't tell my mom).  I'm a wild branch because I'm a Gentile; I'm not of Jewish descent. I have been grafted in amongst the children of Israel because I believe Jesus Christ died to rescue me from the punishment of sin.  I have given Him Lordship over my life, and I choose to follow the example He has left with the help of God's Holy Spirit in me.  I understand I am not to consider myself better than the branches of those Israelites who have not yet chosen to accept Christ as the Messiah they have been waiting for.  As one who is "grafted in,"  I get to "share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree," and that "root sustains [me]." 

You may not think that sounds very exciting, but it has me wanting to do the happy dance!  This isn't any ol' olive tree.  This tree is cultivated!  This tree is watched over, cared for, pruned when necessary, given necessary nutrients at just the right time.  This tree is tenderly encouraged and strengthened so that it will be magnificent and abundantly fruitful.  I get to reap the benefit of being part of something that is so very deeply loved and cherished.  The roots of this amazing tree sustain me. 

The word sustain means: "1. to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure.  2. to bear (a burden, charge, etc.). 3. to undergo, experience, or suffer (injury, loss, etc.); endure without giving way or yielding.  4. to keep (a person, the mind, the  spirits, etc.) from giving way, as under trial or affliction.  5. to keep up or keep going, as an action or  process: to sustain a conversation.  6. to supply with  food, drink and other necessities of life.  7. to provide for (an institution or the like) by furnishing means or funds.  8. to support (a cause or the like) by aid or approval.  9. to uphold as valid, just, or correct, as a claim or the person making it: The judge sustained the lawyer's objection. 10. to confirm or corroborate, as a statement: Further investigation sustained my suspicions."  (Dictionary.com)

Think about it: the roots of the cultivated olive tree that I've been grafted into support me, hold me, bear me up.  They enable me to undergo hard stuff without giving way.  Those astounding roots enable my mind and my spirit from breaking under trials or affliction.  They help keep me moving forward and growing to become all God imagines for me.  Those blessed roots supply me with whatever my spiritual life needs.  Those precious roots remind me that I am worth something to the Father and they confirm to my spirit that I am treasured.

I can see my walnut tree out the window of my office.  After spending some time trying to understand Paul's ramble in Romans 11, my walnut tree is becoming a reminder to me of the strength and stability that is available to me when I seek nourishment from the roots God has provided me.  I need to be in His Word, learning God's whole story so that I know and understand how well God has cultivated His olive tree.  From every portion of the Scripture, I learn more of who this wondrous God Almighty is, and how faithful He always is to provide that which will perfectly sustain. I'm a wild branch, and I've been grafted in: may I blossom with gratitude and strength.