May the mumbling commence!
Faithfulness to God is rewarded both inside and outside of Israel. Look at how God rewards Caleb after the Promised Land is conquered. Read from Joshua chapter fourteen:
A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, "Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea. I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave from my heart a good report, but my brothers who went with me frightened the people and discouraged them from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I followed the Lord my God completely. So that day Moses promised me, 'The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your special possession and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.'
Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise – even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So I'm asking you to give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the Anakites living there in great, walled cities. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said."
So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as an inheritance. Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. (Previously Hebron had been called Kiriath-arba. It had been named after Arba, a great hero of the Anakites.) And the land had rest from war. (Verses 6-15)
Caleb encouraged the people to follow the Lord. He followed the Lord completely and was promised the land he walked as his own. Now Caleb was asking for that land… and he was willing to take the land because of his undying trust of the Lord.
Though Caleb was counted as a part of the tribe of Judah, he was adopted into it. He was a Kenizzite. Yes, God rewards faithfulness of people both inside and outside of Israel.
And faithfulness sometimes means letting go of our own ambitions to hold tightly to the path God has put before us – even when our friends think it wrong. Read from John chapter three:
At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there and people kept coming to him for baptism. This was before John was put into prison. At that time a certain Jew began an argument with John's disciples over ceremonial cleansing. John's disciples came to him and said, "Teacher, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you said was the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going over there instead of coming here to us."
John replied, "God in heaven appoints each person's work. You yourselves know how plainly I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am here to prepare the way for him – that is all. The bride will go where the bridegroom is. A bridegroom's friend rejoices with him. I am the bridegroom's friend, and I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” (Verses 23-30)
Let us find joy in the Lord in the Advent and Christmas season. May we bring glory and honor and praise to the name of Jesus – the name above all names.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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