Week 6: Wanderings... "Are we there yet?"

I suppose we've all been on those road trips with the family.  I remember them as a kid.  I've experienced them as a parent.  It always seems like a good idea at the time.  An amazing location everybody wants to visit... Disneyworld, the beach, Washington D.C., the Promised Land.  Who wouldn't want to go?  It sounds great.  The only problem is... well, getting there.

We pack everything we think we might need.  We load up our vehicles.  We fill the tank and we're off!  Two... four... six... eight hours in the car with those we love the most, our family.  What could go wrong?
"Stop touching me!  Mom, make him stop touching me.  He's touching me."
"Dad, so-n-so is on my side of the car."
"Are we there yet?"
"I've got to pee."
"How much farther?"
"I'm hungry!"
"Is that a Crackle Barrell?"  (this one is an inside joke for our family, sorry.)

And don't forget... "Don't make me come back there?"
This one always comes from the front seat after the back seat has evolved into complete and utter chaos.  It is usually followed by, "Because I'll pull this car over and come back there!" or "I'll turn this car around!  Don't believe me?  Just try it again, mister."  (Everybody knows dad isn't going to actually turn the car around... he's got too much invested by this point, right?  right?"

This week we come to this part of the story... the road trip.  We've read about Moses being sent to Egypt to rescue the children of Israel from slavery.  He did that.  We've read about the amazing act of God that brought them through the Red Sea and onto dry land.  That happened.  And last week we read the bit about him going up to meet God on Mount Sinai and receiving the Ten Commandments.  The unpacking of the Law can be an arduous and tedious process, not to mention it is easy to get lost in the complexities of it.  Hopefully, I made it accessible and practical in last week's lesson as I tried to get at the heart of the Law.  And now we are ready for the Promised Land!  A land flowing with milk and honey... a land promised to Israel since the days of Abraham... many, many years before.  The people of Israel are now ready... the only problem is getting there.

This week... the journey to the Promised Land... more aptly titled, "Wanderings."  There are many ups and downs in their journey.  There are unexpected detours and unexpected delays.  Such is always the case with long road trips.  In this instance, however, God is wanting to teach them something.  He wants to instruct them in how to be the nation He wants for them to be BEFORE they ever get to the land of promise.  And so the trip itself is filled with hard lessons and not-just-a-little discipline along the way.  They will learn... but they will learn the hard way... and those who begun the journey will have to be content to allow the next generation to enjoy the final destination, because they will not be allowed to enter in.  It will be a long, hard forty years.

The Christian life is a journey as well.  Our destination is set.  We are bound for the Promised Land, too, right?  Our ultimate destination goal is Heaven with God... and yet the journey is not to be disregarded.  It is the journey which will prepare us to enter in... when it is time.  Are we learning the lessons along the way?  Are we preparing ourselves for the final destination in the way we are walking day to day?  Good questions to ask ourselves as we read thru chapter six of The Story this week.

Thanks & have a blessed week.