The i's have it!

"And every kid will have matching sox that they can keep!"  Maurice announced. 

Our little church had taken our kids to a competitive event.  We were told the "official" uniform was a white  t-shirt and jeans.  When we arrived in our jeans and white  t-shirts, we were stunned and embarrassed.  Every other team had matching shirts and shorts. 

On the ride home, the adults planned for the next competition.  We had our eyes opened and we were not going to be innocent again.  Our kids would compete looking like a real team.  We told ourselves they would compete better when they looked better. Although, we took second place!

I've been meditating on Deuteronomy 27: 9-26 for a long time.  If you follow my blog posts you will note it has been three months.  I have been busy enjoying Life  by becoming a grandmother and preparing gifts for Christmas while concerned that I'm nearing the end of Deuteronomy and what will I study next?  It is so easy to slip into distraction and lose focus on the important tasks.  So I'm back with "another beginning"!

In Deuteronomy 27 Moses tells the people to be silent and listen.  If they are going to own the Promised Land they will need to live and act like God's people.  Half of the tribes stand on Mount Gerizim to repeat the blessings and half the tribes stand on Mount Ebal to repeat the curses.  All the people say "Amen" after each curse.

As I rewrote each curse in my journal, I noticed the common thread of the innocents being victimized.   The victims of the  "do nots" were blind, unaware and powerless.  This reminded me of Maurice and the other adults protecting our innocent little kids from future embarrassment.

I also noted that the curses were about very intimate matters.  Most of them dealt with sexual immorality in very specific relationships.

God wanted to impress upon the Israelites the importance of these commandments, these "do nots", so the people were instructed to say "Amen" (or in my own translation "so be it" or "I do") after each one.

These verses convince me that the "i's have it!"

Don't let idols distract me so I lose focus on following God into my Promised Land.

Don't take advantage of the ­innocent so I can prosper, even when I may be the only one who will know, God will know.

Don't be impure in the intimate matters in my life. Maybe I am the only one who knows but God does know my heart.

The "do nots" are really important, every single one of them.  It made me think of initialing every single line in a contract, time consuming as it would be I would read every line and decide I accepted each line.

Hallelujah, we have such a loving and forgiving God.  Even though I am again impressed with God's expectations for my life, including the "do nots", I can come back to Him daily and admit my distraction and loss of His priority in my life and begin again. I do want to follow God into the Promised Land He has destined for me.

Here I begin again, "Another Beginning"!