King David had done what G.o.d forbids. For many months after Davidas adultery, his complicity in murder, and his constant efforts to hide the truth and dodge responsibility, David did nothing to set matters right with his Lord (see 2 Sam. 11). Then the intrepid Nathan came on the scene and confronted him (2 Sam. 12:1-14). David must have fondly imagined that the things he had done were lost in the mists of time, forgotten by G.o.d and unknown to man. But they werenat! The things he had done were written in bold, red ink on an open page in G.o.das book, which G.o.d read aloud to Nathan, his prophet. But David, when confronted, bravely and humbly faced up to what he had done. Then he pleaded with the Lord, aWash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my shameful deedsa"they haunt me day and nighta (51:2-3). Once David faced his guilt, the appropriate vocabulary flowed from his lips. Guilt, evil, sin, shame. David called on the Lordas mercy, love, and compa.s.sion. There was not a word of excuse, not a suggestion of alibi.
David was guilty, ashamed, and miserable, but he wanted a fresh start. And he got it! The broken bones of his shattered life were healed, his willing spirit was reestablished, the old vigor was restored, the joy came surging back, and the forgiven man went on his way rejoicing and serving. (Not that he escaped the consequencesa"see 2 Samuel 12:10.) Men should never be ashamed to admit their guilt, and they should never be guilty of denying their shameful actions. Men have difficulty saying, aI was wrong, and Iam sorry. Please help me!a Perhaps it has to do with the male ego. We apparently have a deep need to project an image of confidence, competence, and control. But we need to realize that real men donat hide behind fragile egosa"they come clean about their shortcomings, and they grow strong through admitting their failures.
October 9
TO READ: Deuteronomy 1:19-33
The Way Forward
aI said to you, aYou have now reached the land that the LORD our G.o.d is giving us. Look! He has placed it in front of you. Go and occupy it as the LORD, the G.o.d of your ancestors, has promised you. Donat be afraid! Donat be discouraged!a a Deuteronomy 1:20-21
If we donat learn from history, weall probably repeat it. Perhaps that is why Moses was careful to remind the children of Israel that their forefathers had experienced a failure of both nerve and faith, and as a result they had wasted forty years in the wilderness. If the people did not learn from that experience, but repeated the failure of nerve and the lack of faith, there was no telling where they might end up. Moses had no interest in returning to the wilderness in another holding pattern. For the people of Israel, the way forward was the way of faith.
Forty years earlier, confronted with the awesome task of moving into enemy-held territory, the people had sent scouts in to spy out the land. The scouting report brought them into a dilemma. On the one hand, the land was full of promisea"as promised! On the other hand, it was full of giants, both real and imaginary. The sons of Anak were very big and very real. But the Israelitesa inordinate fears were without substance, and their imagined problems lacked reality. They failed to imagine how big and real their all-powerful G.o.d is. As a result, they fell back rather than pressing forward.
A careful recounting of G.o.das actions in the past should lead a trusting person to have confidence in his saving power in the future. But some of us are more cautious than others, some more calculating than the rest. Some of us can recognize opportunities in every difficulty, while others see difficulties in every opportunity. Weare all wired up differently. But there is a factor that should loom larger than personality or temperament: the G.o.d factor! When we recognize who G.o.d is and what he has promised, we should have no problem trusting him to carry through in the future.
Who G.o.d is, what he has done, and what he has promised to do have been fully doc.u.mented. So we are faced with the challenge of deciding whether he is worthy of ongoing trust and whether we will choose to trust him. Notice the word choose. It comes down to a matter of choice in the end. The earlier generation of Israelites arefused to trust the Lord [their] G.o.da (1:32). Now the later generation were being given their chance to choose or refuse. We have the same opportunity every day of our lives. We either choose to trust or we refuse to trust. And the result? Living in the land of promise or wandering in the wilderness.
October 10
TO READ: Deuteronomy 4:1-14
Spiritual Laws of Gravity
aBut watch out! Be very careful never to forget what you have seen the LORD do for you. Do not let these things escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pa.s.s them on to your children and grandchildren. Tell them especially about the day when you stood before the LORD your G.o.d at Mount Sinai, where he told me, aSummon the people before me, and I will instruct them. That way, they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will be able to teach my laws to their children.a a Deuteronomy 4:9-10
Obeying laws does not come naturallya"or easily! Sometimes we feel that the laws are bad laws or that they are unfair, or we donat like the government that pa.s.sed them! So we find ways around them rather than submitting to them. But what about G.o.das laws? Why would we have a problem with them? Perhaps itas because we donat recognize that they are for our benefit.
When Moses reminded the children of Israel of the importance of obeying G.o.das laws, he said, aObey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land the Lord . . . is giving youa (4:1). The pathway for G.o.das people to enjoy all that the Lord had provided for them was, and is, to obey G.o.das laws.
Take G.o.das laws for the physical universe. If we aobeya the laws of thermodynamics, we stay warm. If we adisobeya them, we get burned or frozen. If we asubmita to the law of gravity, we stay stable and secure, but if we attempt to defy this law, we may put ourselves or others in danger.
It is the same with the moral and social laws that G.o.d has created for human well-being. Try to imagine a neighborhood in which neighbors actually treat each other with love and respect! Think of the difference it would make if n.o.body stole or killed or lied! Our relationships would be transformed. Yet this is what would happen if people obeyed G.o.das laws!
Left to themselves, people fall into ignorance of G.o.das laws and reap the awful results of living out of step with the Creator. Constant referral to G.o.das laws is necessary. Even a casual glance at the Old Testament shows that G.o.d repeatedly sent his servants to help his people remember the value of his laws.
If an entire generation raises its children without G.o.das laws, a society will live in ignorance of the truth, leading to societal collapse and individual disaster. This is exactly what we see today. So the call to teach our children to obey G.o.d needs to be heard very urgently. Teaching G.o.das laws to children may not be fashionable, but it is smart! Moses himself said those who teach their children G.o.das laws display awisdom and intelligence.a Howas that for powerful motivation?
October 11
TO READ: Deuteronomy 9:1-21
Humbling Reality
I will say it again: The LORD your G.o.d is not giving you this good land because you are righteous, for you are nota"you are a stubborn people.
Deuteronomy 9:6
The man who walks with his nose in the air is liable to land in trouble. Or if you prefer, aPride goes before destructiona (Prov. 16:18). By contrast, the humble man walks with his nose down and his eyes fixed on the road, because he knows his propensity for going wrong, his capacity for missteps.
It would not have been surprising if the children of Israel had a.s.sumed that they merited G.o.das extraordinarily generous treatment of them. G.o.d had delivered them from their bondage in Egypt, had taken the initiative to make a unique covenant with them, and had fed them and protected them for forty hair-raising years in a desolate wilderness. And finally he was giving them the land that had previously belonged to other people. They must have been righteous!
The reality is, the Israelites were anything but righteous. So Moses took steps to bring them face-to-face with reality, which would lead to appropriate humility. He told them, aDonat say to yourselves, aThe Lord has given us this land because we are so righteous!a . . . The Lord your G.o.d is not giving you this good land because you are righteous, for you are nota"you are a stubborn peoplea (Deut. 9:4-6). Then he embarked on a long recital of events that showed unequivocally that they were remarkably undeserving of the blessings bestowed upon them. For them to think they were blessed because they deserved it would have been rank fantasy.
G.o.d was not being unkind in reminding Israel of their unworthiness. He knew that the more self-satisfied they became, the more they were in danger of spiritual pride and eventual downfall. On the other hand, the more they recognized G.o.das grace and mercy, the more their hearts would be gripped by his love, moved by his grace, and touched by his mercy. Hearts so affected become loving, obedient hearts. Thatas where true blessing is found, and that is what G.o.d wanted for his people.
Itas hard for men today to be humble, since they are so smart and have accomplished so much. But a few reflective moments will help us realize that humility is necessary and anything else would be grossly inappropriate. The thoughtful man knows that unless G.o.d provides him air to breathe, food to eat, and raw materials with which to work, he cannot produce. And the insightful man sees that unless G.o.d gives him blessings that are completely undeserved, he cannot even exist! Reality is humbling, but those who humble themselves make G.o.d proud.
October 12
TO READ: Deuteronomy 15:1-18
Generosity Means Business
Give freely without begrudging it, and the LORD your G.o.d will bless you in everything you do.
Deuteronomy 15:10
Modern businesses state that they exist ato make a profita and ato provide a service.a Some even add ato care for the well-beinga of their workforce. But often this concern is more pragmatic than anything elsea"a happy worker is a more productive worker! It is more a concern for the bottom line than for the worker on the a.s.sembly line.
The Lord handed down to Israel a unique set of principles for doing business. Take, for instance, the law of release. Every seventh year the land had to be left uncultivated in order that it might have a Sabbath rest, so that it might be more productive. The law of release stated that, when the Sabbath year came, people laboring under debt were granted release from their debt. Whether the release was a permanent cancellation or a temporary reprieve has been debated. Either way, sharp businessmen, knowing that the year of release was coming, would not wish to make a loan where repayment would be delayeda"or even cancelled! But G.o.d instructed them not to be amean-spiriteda and to make the loan anyway! A similar provision related to the situation of those in a state of bankruptcy who had no option but to sell themselvesa"their only remaining a.s.seta"into slavery. The law of release stipulated that, when the Sabbath year arrived, such slaves should be allowed to go free. Understandably, some businessmen were reluctant to let go of free labor. But G.o.d told them not only to let them go but to give them aa generous farewell gift.a What should be the att.i.tude of the Christian businessperson? If he doesnat provide a product or service heall be out of business, and if he doesnat turn a profit heall go bankrupt. So those two objectives are agivens.a But what should be his att.i.tude to the people he works with or who work for him? To answer this question, we need to remember that the Christian man in business is a Christian first and a businessman second. His business activities provide the environment in which his Christian convictions shine through. Nowhere will this be more evident than in the way he treats people. But how should he treat them? He should remember that he is not dealing solely with a human machine but with a persona"a person whom G.o.d made and for whom Christ died, and whose well-being is one of G.o.das concerns. So the Christian businessmanas major concern should be how to treat people, who have eternal worth, in a way that pleases G.o.d. For G.o.d, generosity is a given, and with G.o.d, a generous approach means business!
October 13
TO READ: Deuteronomy 24:10-22
Business Integrity
Never take advantage of poor laborers, whether fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they might cry out to the LORD against you, and it would be counted against you as sin.
Deuteronomy 24:14-15
Integrity results when things are integrateda"when such things as belief and behavior fit together and coincide. For instance, business integrity means that the businessman delivers on what he promises and stands by what he says. Promise and performance match each other.
The moral integrity of G.o.das people was clearly a major concern for Moses as he gave final instructions concerning life in the Promised Land. He explained that the legislation was designed to acleanse the evila from among them, and that the Lord would acount it as a righteous acta if they followed these precepts. In other words, there was a profound spiritual dimension to the way the Israelites conducted their daily lives. It was not just a matter of being good for goodnessa sake or of being kind because their neighbors were nice people. It was more important than that! It was a matter of living according to divine dictates so that evil might be banished and so that the Lord would be honored among them.
From our modern perspective, these laws appear to be remarkably detailed, but the underlying factor in most of them was relational integrity. The evil that had to be banished was the evil of wrong relationships, and righteousness was the way they treated other people rightly. This was to be applied particularly in the area of business dealings. Great emphasis was placed on treating the underprivileged rightly, and great censure was placed on those who failed to do so.
Integrity in business is of paramount importance because it helps save society from moral pollution, it helps ensure proper care for the downtrodden, and it helps protect the powerful from spiritual degeneration through the wrongful exercise of their power. By treating people rightly, the ahavesa are protected from debilitating greed and the ahave-notsa are delivered from cancerous envy. Then the workplace is a better place to be, and the changed att.i.tudes find their way home, where the family benefits, too.
In disputes about working conditions or remuneration in our culture, remedies are usually sought through unions, strikes, and arbitration. In many instances, equitable solutions are discovered. But in ancient Israel there was another powerful factor. A disgruntled worker could always acry out to the Lord against you,a and if you were in the wrong, ait would be counted against you as sin.a That way of looking at things is most appropriate even today. Heaven keeps books on our business dealings, too.
October 14
TO READ: Deuteronomy 28:1-24