I'm leaving for the airport in 20 minutes. Processing that, alone, is more than I can muster at this juncture. To recount all I have seen and learned here would take a long time, so don't stop coming here now; there will be many more posts on all that I didn't have time to write about while abroad. That, and posts on what I'm learning at Oxford about India and modern slavery.
Among the greatest lessons I've learned here are these:
I've spent more time in Deuteronomy 6 these past nine months than in any other five books combined. As I leave India this evening, I recall verses 20-25 in hope and great thanks for the God who has delivered us from ourselves and continues to do so daily.
"When your son asks you in time to come, 'What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?' then you shall say to your son, 'We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.'"
Amen.
Among the greatest lessons I've learned here are these:
- Christ is not only our savior, but an archetype for how we are to live.
- God is entirely worthy of our trust, and his mercies are new every morning.
- The Christian faith is separated from all others by a deity who reaches down to meet us where we are and bring us into his kingdom; into his love.
- The Christian kingdom is rigged: all investments for our Lord, in some kingdom way, come back as gain.
- Like a father, God delights in giving us good things and is moved by our asking. When his responses are seemingly contrary to our requests, his mighty hand and outstretched arm move in our best interests in accordance with a reality to which we are not fully privy.
- The reality of the gospel is greater than anything we can imagine. And sooner or later, as Dallas Willard says, reality wins.
I've spent more time in Deuteronomy 6 these past nine months than in any other five books combined. As I leave India this evening, I recall verses 20-25 in hope and great thanks for the God who has delivered us from ourselves and continues to do so daily.
"When your son asks you in time to come, 'What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?' then you shall say to your son, 'We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.'"
Amen.
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