Deuteronomy 4:15-5:33
Reflection. I guess nights upon night of nothing to look at except sand-dunes can lead one to reflect a fair bit. Spending 40 years camped in a “vast and dreadful” desert probably doesn’t lead to a particularly rapid pace of life. Which is why these passages are a goldmine. Moses must have done his fair bit of thinking about God and, as he begins to lie down on his death-bed, he is speaking out words of 24-carat value. Verses 32-40 deserve several readings. I think the main sense is one of immense privilege. Moses has had a fair bit to do with other nations (generally destroying them!) and sees the hugely unusual state his nation is in - actually wooed by the one real and powerful God, rescued from oppressors, protected from enemies, provided a land they never could have won and now held in the crook of God’s arm in a covenant of deep mercy and strength. Reflection is something I want to make more time for. I want to find space to consider long and hard what it is the Lord has done for us and to let him grow a deep sense of gratitude in my heart.
Luke 11:5-32
Carrying on with the distinctives of followers of Jesus, we see here - played out in 3 different ways - the distinctive of knowing where power lies. The first pass at this distinctive covers the fairly run-of-the-mill question of provision - followers of Jesus know that all resources lie in the hand of God and that he is the only one who has power to give the Holy Spirit (his empowering presence) to those who seek him. The second pass raises the bar a little and shows that all spiritual authority lies with God. God’s power that performed the 10 plagues of Egypt (the finger of God) is the power of the kingdom being wielded by Jesus to drive out the works of the Satan. Followers of Jesus know that evil can only be tackled by one force. The third and final pass takes us into the stratosphere of power-wielders. Followers of Jesus know that God will be the judge of every single individual who has ever lived. Followers of Jesus know that the axis of history and of destiny turns on the one man Jesus and what people do with him will decide how they fare on that day. The culmination of these 3 is a vibrant and single-minded distinctive - a gaze fixed markedly in only one direction, a life tilted permanently and decidedly towards submission to God. Every issue and every problem is always put to God for him to resolve. His is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and for ever. Amen
Proverbs 8:32-36
Is it unwise of me to say that wisdom has probably made her point at least 27 times already and it is starting to wear a little thin? “Wisdom - I think we’ve got the idea that we need to find you... but what do you actually look like?? Why can’t you get onto the dog and vomit bit - everyone always loves a good story about dogs and their vomit.
