[Goes with RSK Lesson 52]
Moses my servant is dead.
That’s pretty bleak.
I had a hard time with that one today.
I love Moses. I have walked with him and listened to him and struggled with him and been so blessed by his friendship with God. Moses’ pleading with God over the Promised Land—the thing he had been dreaming of and single-mindedly focused on for 40 years—was so poignant.
NO rewards on this earth for Moses! Just struggle, exhaustion, stretched to the limit, wilderness living…
But—a daily friendship with God.
That’s more than enough.
And it’s something he’s still enjoying—while the world grows ever more frantic and high-pitched over who that ancient Promised Land belongs to.
Today, though, what struck me was the finality… the starkness… the solemnity… of: Moses My servant is dead.
It was the brevity, the oh-so-fleeting swiftness of even the 120 years Moses was granted.
Sooner rather than later, someone is going to say: Jill, God’s servant, is dead.
I hope that’s what they say, anyway.
Those are pretty good words to go out with, actually.
We’ve each got about 80 years to make the kind of choices Moses made—just because we want to. Because we keep our eyes on the One who is Invisible.
Because we believe that the promises He has made—no, guaranteed—are about a place where thieves can’t loot, borders don’t change, the sun never sets, and… well, you know.
Meanwhile: onward—into Canaan with Israel and their new leader. They were headed into what they would look back on, and sing about, as their glory days—or rather, God’s glory days!
O God, we have heard it with our own ears—
Our ancestors have told us of all you did in other days, in days long ago.
You drove out the pagan nations and gave all the land to our ancestors.
You crushed their enemies, setting our ancestors free.
They did not conquer the land with their swords;
It was not their own strength that gave them victory.
It was by your mighty power that they succeeded;
It was because you favored them and smiled on them.
It is you who gives us victory over our enemies;
It is you who humbles those who hate us.
O God, we give glory to you all day long, and constantly praise your name.
