Strange Bedfellows

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD's anger burned against them. – Numbers 25: 1-3

In the story of Israel so far, they have almost reached the Promised Land.

Yay!

But now they are encountering the nations that border the land. One of them is Moab.

Moab was actually the son/nephew of Lot, Abraham’s brother.

(Yes you read that correctly… son/nephew… He had a child with his daughter. And you wondered why God gave Israel all of those crazy laws…)

Out of Abraham came Israel and out of Lot came Moab. So really they are like distant cousins. But the Moab side is down with Baal… not so fresh in God’s eyes.

As the Israelites approached, the leader of Moab tried to have them cursed but to no avail. So what’s the next move?

Hey… if you can’t beat ‘em… join ‘em!

Perhaps the Moabite women hollered or the Israelite men hollered but either way, the result was an intermingling that had some of the Israelites worshipping Baal.

When I think about my life and the many people who have come in and out of it I can’t help but to admit that not everyone was a good influence.

Some were great. A few even helped me to become the best parts of who I am.

Others weren’t so great. And the more I held onto them, the further I fell from the good path that would bring me the most joy and fulfillment.

The company we keep is very important. We have to make sure that these people are in line with our purpose. If not, then they could be distractions, or worst of all, stumbling blocks.

So, strap in and prepare to walk the path required of us, let’s make sure that folk around us are going in the same direction.

It is the only way that we can be sure we will continue forward in the right direction.

Today’s Reading: Numbers 23-25; Mark 7: 14-37

Don't Look Back

Today's Reading: Genesis 18-19; Matthew 6:1-18

“By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” - Genesis 19:26

Rough game.

This is the part of the Abraham story where the three angels come to Sodom (where Lot lives) to see if the city is worth saving. Before they reached the city Abraham got God to agree that if there are just ten decent folk in the city, the city would be spared.

Well… when the three angels arrived in Sodom the folk in the city nearly broke down Lot’s door trying to rape them…

Yuck.

(by the way… when folk bring up the Sodom and Gomorrah story as a reason why gay and lesbian folk are supposedly evil or whatever… I’m like really? Do all gay and lesbian folk you encounter try to rape you? Not likely… but that’s a whole different topic.)

So clearly the town wasn’t so fresh. Time to bounce.

The angels had to nearly drag Lot, his wife and his daughters out of there but they finally got them out. And when they got Lot and his people to a safe distance they told them to keep it movin’ and don’t look back.

But…his wife looked back.

Zap!

When we look past the theatrics this story, there is the beginning of a pattern that I have seen. There is a consistent message from God that we are to live in the present.

I started reading “The Power of Now” when I was doing the year long bible reading the last time and it is stories like Sodom and Gomorrah that made me put that book down half way through. It’s also a story like this that helped me realize how relevant this ancient text is still today.

Lot’s wife didn’t get arbitrarily zapped. She got zapped for looking back to a time past, to a life that was not good for her or her family, to a life that she desperately needed to get away from. But her heart remained attached to it.

Have you ever done that? Looked back at people, places or things and longed for them, focused on them, even reached out for them?

I know that I have.

When we look backward, it is impossible to see where we are going. Instead of moving forward to another place, a better place, we end up walking in circles, retracing our own footsteps, wondering why time has passed but our lives still look so strangely familiar.

We may not turn into a pillar of salt but that sure ain’t living.