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.