Lent, Day 24: CHOOSING WISELY

Scripture:   Numbers 20:1-13 

Focus on the Word

At the heart of the Christian message is the overwhelming and grace-filled truth that God is faithful.  Building our lives on this truth can be a challenge.  When the pressure is on us and the stress is growing it is easy to assume an authority we have not been given and try take control and help God out. 

Instead of simply listening to God and acting accordingly, Moses and Aaron added their own script to the story, put a little show time into their faith, acted a bit more holy than they really were, and God called them to task over it.  In fact, God told them the future of Israel would no longer rest with them.  It would be turned over to others for leadership.  God was faithful and He met the needs of the people, but Moses and Aaron forfeited their role in the ongoing story of God.  They would receive all the honor due them, and their lives would go down in Hebrew history in a favorable light.  One wonders, however, how different the story might have been had they simply obeyed God and left it right there.

        More than anything else the Old Testament is the story of God and of His relationship with the people He called to be His children.  Learning to let God be God seems to be an ongoing challenge for people of faith in all generations.  God's word to Moses and Aaron was simple and to the point, "Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them" (Numbers 20:13, NASB).  

    From these words we are called to remember that this is God's story.  He is the author of the narrative.  He doesn't need us to amplify and magnify the storyline.  He simple needs us to live the story He has given to us.  God is looking for people who will simply be faithful.  If there is any drama to be had, that will be up to God.  

In Lent we come near God again in fresh new ways to listen to the story He is telling, and seek to find our place in that story.  And, in our seeking we do well to treat God as the Holy One He is.  This will bring a smile to the face of God.

Today’s Prayer

My Father:  Who will govern my life today?

Me – or You?

Help me to choose wisely,

Moment by moment.  Amen.

-- Augustine