Deuteronomy 16-17 / Luke 9:7-27 / Psalm 72 / Proverbs 12:8-9
There was so much I could have written about today! I had many thoughts and questions as I read through the verses. Should I talk about the fact that each king was to hand copy God’s instruction and read it daily? Should I talk about Jesus’s model of leadership in that He blessed the 5 loaves and 2 fish, then gave the food to his trusted disciples to distribute to the people? Should I talk about the value of losing my life for the sake of Christ?
So, you can see my dilemma with such richness in front of me! That said, I’m going to process the fact that the king was to write his own copy of God’s law and read it daily as long as he lived. This was to be done so he would learn to fear the Lord and obey all the instructions and decrees. This was to “prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens.” It seems we could use some of that today.
When I look around at the mess in the world today, it’s obvious we’ve forgotten God’s ways. We’ve forgotten to love the Lord our God with all our hearts. We’ve forgotten to love our neighbor as ourselves. And these two basic principles, when followed in relationship and love, would solve all the world’s problems.
Does that sound too simple? Maybe, but sometimes the most simple truths are the most powerful. There would be less corruption if we loved God and others – less greed, murder, impurity… but then again, we won’t live fully this way until heaven. We will always have sin to contend with, so what are we to do?
Luke 9:23-25 does come into play after all. Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?
There we are again – the daily task. The king was to daily read the words he had written and we are to daily give up our own way and take up our cross. What does it mean to take up your cross?
Take up –airo = to take upon one’s self and carry what has been raised up, to bear. To appropriate what is taken. To take and apply to any use.
Cross – stauros = the well-known instrument of most cruel and ignominious punishment (I say – a place of death).
Do you see in Luke where it says those who try to hang on to their lives will lose them? And that we must give up our lives for His sake. In this way, there is a death of our own way and our own lives, given up for the sake of His way and His life. My question is – have you written His Words so that you might obey them? They don’t have to be physically written (though that might be a great exercise!). But they must be daily read and meditated upon. Will you give up your life for the life He planned for you? If it helps, you can think of this process as the adventure of finding His path and plan. I promise it will be filled with the most amazing experiences – not all good things, but all things that will produce His good in you
