Pastor's Note from March 2, 2014

It has been another great week in our Bible reading plan; I hope you are loving this combination of Old and New Testament passages.  The parallels never cease to amaze me, like the one coming up this week as we continue through Numbers and Luke.

I have been so struck with the reactions of the Israelites as God freed them from their physical and spiritual bondage in Egypt, and brought them into the promise of spiritual freedom through a covenant relationship with Himself at Mt Sinai.  You would expect they would be so overcome with thankfulness, praise, and worship that all other concerns of life would seem insignificant, right?  Aren’t we always filled with thanks, praise and worship?  Okay, anyway, instead of thankfulness and praise all they wanted to do was go back to their bondage in Egypt!  Every time God’s redemptive work didn’t go according to their expectations, they began to complain and actually want to return to their slavery.  There are many examples, but check out Exodus 16:2-3, Numbers 11:4-5; 14:2-4, and 20:5.  Just in case you’re not actually going to look those up, here’s Numbers 14:3-4, “‘Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims?  Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?’  So they said to one another, ‘Let us select a leader and return to Egypt!’”  Seriously!  Haven’t you learned to trust the Lord through some adversity, and now you want to go back to your bondage!  We were talking about this on Friday at Celebrate Recovery, only there we call this “relapse.” 

In the Gospel of Luke this week we find Jesus speaking about this too.  It is a rather short account, easy to miss if we’re not paying attention.  Jesus is walking along a road toward Jerusalem, though still pretty far away.  As He went, some followers came to Him and made comments about wanting to become disciples instead of just following along.  One man said, “Lord, I will follow You, but first let me go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”  Jesus responds with a statement this is our Bible verse for the week...(Luke 9:62)...

Bible reading:

3/3	Monday	Numbers 34-35	Luke 6
3/4	Tuesday	Num 36 – Deut 1	Luke 7
3/5	Wednesday	Deuteronomy 2-3	Luke 8
3/6	Thursday	Deuteronomy 4-5	Luke 9
3/7	Friday	Deuteronomy 6-7	Luke 10
3/8	Saturday	Deuteronomy 8-11	None
3/9	Sunday	Deuteronomy 12-15	None

Bible memory verse: Luke 9:62

“But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven.’”