Cruising Route 66
“Remember!”
Do not be afraid of them; remember what the LORD your God did… Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way… Remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives.
Deuteronomy 7:18, 8:2&18
Welcome to Ben’s Quill!
One morning our son woke up, dressed, packed his bags, and loaded the car. He hugged, kissed and cried with Roberta, then went out to his car where I stood waiting. I hugged his neck and shed a tear as he drove away to give the next years to military service.
The time had come to an end to teach him anything new. The opportunity for instruction was over. Foundational values must now be set because the choices he will make will be his alone. Mom and dad won’t be there looking over his shoulder. The only thing that can be said now is remember! Remember who loves you. Remember what you have been taught. Remember what matters. Remember what is right and what is wrong.
In this same way, Israel is about to make some major transitions. Soon the wanderers will become settlers and the nomads will become farmers. They had listened and followed the direction of Moses for four decades. Now that responsibility is about to be transferred to Joshua. They’re not given new instructions but new leadership, and were told fifteen times in Deuteronomy to remember, (Hebrew zachor, is a prominent word, used 169 times in the Old Testament.)
The Book of Deuteronomy is God telling the children of Israel, as well as you and me, that it is not a time for apprehension, but for application. It is a time to remember what we have gone through and what we have learned, and how to put it to work. As we stand at the threshold of a new week amidst trying times, knowing that we will surely face challenges and temptations, let us not forget that the tempter has been defeated. A way of escape has been provided, and victory is assured.
We only fear what lays before us because of our forgetfulness of the past. We are triumphant because God is our loving Father, Jesus is our Lord and salvation, and the Holy Spirit is our guide and the One who empowers us.
Bless ya,
Ben
