Moments

“(It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.) In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them." Deuteronomy 1:2-3

I could have had her on a leash. I could have picked her up before I crossed the street. I could have done a hundred things differently in that moment. If I would have, one of my worst childhood memories never would have happened. Life is given to us in a series of moments. Once passed, the moments cannot be rewound. There are no do-overs or reset buttons. We live. We chose. We experience the outcomes of those choices, both positive and negative. 

The people of Israel were no different. God had led them out the bondage of Egypt. They were standing at the entrance of their divinely appointed land. God said, "Go!" They said, "No!" Forty years later they returned with none of the nay-sayers in tow. In one moment, they turned an eleven day trip into a forty year misadventure. The point? Moments matter.

I wonder how many avoidable desert journeys we have wandered. How many moments have passed with God speaking and we have stood there with our fingers in our ears? Well, like all moments, those are gone now. There is some wonderful news though. We have this moment and all the other moments God may choose to give us to live large. This moment we can say, "Yes!" when God speaks. This moment we can follow boldly to where he leads. This moment matters. Let's make it count. 

Grace and Peace,
 
Tom Wiles
tom@fallcreekchristian.org

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