rich

this morning i arose early, with an uncharacteristic motivation. i wanted to spend some time with the Lord BEFORE my day begins, instead of always at the end of the day, which has become habit for me.

i found myself in deuteronomy 11 and 12. these passages were such a great way to start the day, because they talk about the inheritance that the Lord has waiting for us, if we choose to love Him first, and follow Him always. They speak about the quality of the land He plans to give us, and how we cannot comprehend the wonder of it! of course, the Lord used a gardening analogy for me, He knows the language i am most drawn to:

The land you are entering to take up ownership isn't like Egypt, the land you left, where you had to plant your own seed and water it yourselves as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are about to cross the river and take for your own is a land of mountains and valleys; it drinks water that rains from the sky. It's a land that God, your God, personally tends—he's the gardener—he alone keeps his eye on it all year long.

This passage comes after a conversation yesterday about giving up ourselves, our control over our own life, and the question of how tough it seems to actually give UP ourselves. I never cease to be amazed that when we ask of God these deep, seemingly difficult questions, His answers make the most perfect sense. The Lord goes on in deuteronomy to explain that THE ONLY THING keeping us from our inheritance is our unwillingness to submit ourselves to Him... our tendency to want to "do for ourselves..." our tight grip on the things we cannot bear to lose, which have NO COMPARISON to the things that we could gain if we were to put Him first. and He tells us what we need to do quite simply:

From now on if you listen obediently to the commandments that I am commanding you today, love God, your God, and serve him with everything you have within you, he'll take charge of sending the rain at the right time, both autumn and spring rains, so that you'll be able to harvest your grain, your grapes, your olives. He'll make sure there's plenty of grass for your animals. You'll have plenty to eat.

Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night. Inscribe them on the doorposts and gates of your cities so that you'll live a long time, and your children with you, on the soil that God promised to give your ancestors for as long as there is a sky over the Earth.

that's it. this morning i can see myself in that new land, enjoying the splendor of a garden i didn't tend, with the One who created it just for me.

:) be blessed today everyone!