Serving God in Tedium

"So Moses listed them, just as the LORD had commanded." Leviticus 3:16

Have you ever felt like God asked you to do something unreasonable or tedious? Has there ever been something that seemed illogical or just plain ridiculous? That's what I think of when I read this passage.

God asked Moses to list the names of all the members of the tribe of Levi by their families and their clans. This was a whole lot of people! There were three clans of Levi (descendents of his three sons). In one, there were 7500 males, in the second 8600, and in the third 6200. That's approximately 22,300 people Moses had to write on a list. Just in case you were wondering how many exactly is a whole lot of people.

I wonder why this was so important. I mean, the Levites were a special people. They were called to be priests for the Israelites. But do we really need all their names?

Yet, God saw it as important. So it doesn't really matter how we view this task. He certainly had a purpose for it. It may have been the process. It may have been to acknowledge these people He set apart from the rest of the Israelites.

Then I ask myself, have there been things God called me to do that I didn't see as important, but He obviously had a reason to give that task to me. I'm sure there've been more than I'd like to admit.

At times, I didn't see spending time in His word every day as that important. (I mean REALLY spending time in His word, not just reading a devotional or listening to 20 minutes of preaching while getting ready for the day.) Yet, as I have cultivated this habit, God has taught me more and more about Him, myself, and other people. He has also grown me and drawn me closer and closer to Him.

I also think about how this applies to my relationship with food. As a diabetic, for a couple weeks before I go to the doctor I'm to keep track of everything I eat so we can see what my body's doing and what it needs in the way of insulin. I usually do okay at this, but always miss a few days.

Sometimes, I even decide to do it on my own to keep track of what's going on. However, I never seem to stick with it. It falls by the wayside when other things crop up that seem more important.

How much stick-with-it did Moses need to write down 22,000 names? A whole bunch. If only I could be that faithful.

It's adventurous to follow God. He allows us to be a part of some great things. But sometimes He also calls us to do small, detailed, every once in a while even tedious things. We aren't as excited about these, but just as recording the names of the Levites was equally important as leading the Israelites across the Red Sea, we are to be faithful in everything God gives us.

This can even relate to our health. If keeping track of what we eat helps us to be healthier, then it's worth it. If keeping an exercise log keeps us accountable, it's worth it.

God gave us these bodies to serve Him and sometimes we abuse them without thought. Maybe being more faithful in the small things toward our goal of health will help us be better equipped for serving Him. It may be about the process or it may be about discipline or it may be about the actual record-keeping. Either way, what is God calling you to do today - health related or otherwise - that will take you on the next step to faithfulness?

Healthy and Strong

This is what I'm working on right now. I feel like I've been working on it a long time. Or maybe I'm just working on it again. It's like a roller coaster, this life of trying to eat healthy, be healthy, and lose weight. I'm sure many of you have been on the ride. While I have had ups and downs with my weight, what's more concerning to me is my ups and downs emotionally. Today I'm motivated. Right now I'm motivated. I might not be tomorrow. I might not be even tonight. When I sit down to dinner. Or it's quiet after all the kids go to bed and there's nothing that has to be done at that moment. That's when I want to remain strong. I want to remember my goals. Remember that I CAN DO IT.

I know I can do it. I've done it in the past. So, why am I not able to do it now? How come I haven't been able to do it for the last 5 years?

Because I want to do what I want and live off my emotions, wants, and desires, and still get the results I want. However, I know it doesn't work this way. I can't in my almost 40-year-old body eat like I did when I was a teenager. Metabolism does change (no matter how much we don't want it to) and our bodies change. My head knows this. Yet it hasn't seemed to get the message to my hands and mouth.

Because I want to do what I want to do. And get the results I want.

Maybe I need to tell myself this is a myth every day. Every meal. Every hour. Even though I already know it. I just need to be convinced.

I also need to convince myself that the sacrifices and self-discipline needed to reach my goals are WORTH IT. And I AM WORTH IT. I can improve my life, my health, my energy level if I'll SACRIFICE.

I know it. Now I just need to live it. Will you live it with me?

Stopping the Flow

"the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Aragah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho." Joshua 3:16

Water gives life. The flow of a river is what helps keep it alive and fit for life. The ebb and flow prevents stagnancy and helps measure and keep the rhythm God created. (Have you ever seen a pond that just sits? Gross.)

In this particular passage, we are getting the account of the Israelites FINALLY crossing the Jordan River into the promised land. After 40 years of wondering, complaining, learning about God, they are about to step into what was promised them decades and a generation before. Just as they had escaped Egypt and the Egyptian army via crossing a river on dry ground, God once again challenges the courses of nature He Himself set in motion to bring forth a promise to His people. I wonder why we don't talk about this parting of the waters as much as the first? Is it because walking across a riverbed on dry ground is old hat on the second go round?

Aren't we all like that with God's promises and His greatness? I know I am. I am so unfaithful to the Lord. Perusing the previous devotions for 3:16 I read things that I need to read again. things I fully believed at the moment, but didn't hang on to. Why is that? Why am I so weak? So faithless? So inconsistent?

I know part of the answer is my human sinfulness. However, I am a new person in Christ. The Israelites were God's chosen people. Yet I, like them, often overlook God's miracles and power even when they are right in front of me.

That's why I'm grateful for the opportunity to sit, read, meditate and reflect on passages like this. I blow by them too often, losing the full impact. It is a great reminder of the awesomeness of God. The love of His character. The grace He pours out when the river dries up.

I highly recommend you go back and read the full section of this story - found in Joshua chapters three and four. And that you reflect on and pray over what God is revealing about both Himself and us in these passages. Then let those truths sit in you and change you.

"He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your GOD." Joshua 4:24

Tracy