My Promised Land

    The weary Israelites had one goal – to reach the Promised Land.  The Israelites had been in bondage for over 400 years and they were desperate to escape the suffering.  

Exodus 3:7 – 10 (NLT)

    7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. 9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

God had heard their cry for help, and He was going to rescue His people.  God promised Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, a place of peace and rest.  Today, Israel’s journey to their Promised Land provides us with an example of Christian’s journey through life.  

We all start life as slaves.  We are slaves to sin and this world just as the Israelites were to Egypt.  We all suffer at the cruel hand of the world. People we love leave this world too soon, our dreams crash at our feet, and we often find ourselves in a mess of trouble that we created.  But we don’t have to stay in Egypt forever, there is a way to escape that life of pain and suffering.

God has seen our suffering from the beginning of time, and He sent His only Son to rescue us.  Just as God told Moses to rescue His people, He sent Jesus to rescue His children. Jesus has defeated the world and its sin and has made a way for us to reach our Promised Land through salvation.   One filled with peace, with no sadness, and with no pain. But the journey there is a long one.

Salvation doesn’t stop with just accepting Christ.  We don’t just bide our time until we reach Heaven. Being a Christian requires you to be active in your faith.  

Matthew 28:18 – 20 (NLT)

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

God told us to go out and rescue others from bondage by showing them, Jesus.  This is what we do on our way to our Promised Land.

Don’t be fooled.  Our mission is simple, but no one said our journey was going to be easy.  We are going to trip and stumble along the way plenty of times.

    Even after being saved, we are not going to be perfect.  No one is perfect except God/Jesus Himself. On our journey, we will be distracted and tempted to go down the wrong path, and sometimes we are going to take a wrong turn.  The Israelites did this many times, but once it had a very significant consequence.

    Numbers 32:13 (NLT)

13 “The Lord was angry with Israel and made them wander in the wilderness for forty years until the entire generation that sinned in the Lord’s sight had died.

The Israelites came so close to the Promised Land only to doubt God and then be sentenced to wander aimlessly in the wilderness for 40 years.  The Israelites chose to doubt God, and as a consequence, their journey was delayed 40 years. We are going to make mistakes. It’s part of being human, but the important thing is to remember that we always should turn back to God and refocus ourselves on the Promised Land.  

    It’s important that we stay focused on reaching our Promised Land and to accomplish our mission on our way there.  Even if we mess up, God is there to get us right back on track. So, the question is…

I’m going to my Promised Land, are you?

Tiffany McGinnis

The Promised Land – Zach Williams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C9w3fQcx80