“Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God.”
Deuteronomy 9:3 (ESV)
When the Israelites were to enter the promised land of Canaan the first time, they should have been bold and gone up as instructed. Instead, they carefully evaluated the circumstances and figured out that they were unable to conquer the residents and therefore they resisted Moses’ instructions.
After 40 years of wilderness wandering as a punishment for their unbelief and disobedience, when Moses spoke the words quoted above, the Israelites had a second chance to enter into the land.
Even though the task was still daunting, they were to go with boldness because their God is a consuming fire and God will go before them. Without God’s help and provision, the task would be impossible.
How does this apply in 2024?
I am reminded that God asks us to do all sorts of things that seem impossible to do. I will focus on one.
Jesus commands us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Yes, it is a command, not merely a suggestion.
I cannot do that on my own, I need the Holy Spirit to be working in my heart to even be open to the idea of loving my enemies.
My observation of the rest of humanity demonstrates that others share this difficulty. One must look no further than a typical social media feed to see that most of us, rather than looking for ways to love our enemies are instead looking for justification to hate them.
This ties together for me because our God will not call us to do anything that he will not empower us to do. He is the consuming fire that will make a way for us to accomplish what he commands.
I can love the one who speaks lies about me. I can love the one that knowingly or unknowingly seeks to do me harm. I can do this only because God will empower me to do it.
If you are encouraged by this post or want to join in a conversation, please use the comment form below to offer your feedback. If you read this in an email and would like to comment, you can reply to the email or click on the “Read in browser” link below to go to the web page where you can enter a comment. I enjoy hearing from you.
