My Third Birthday - Part 1

For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him, then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you [Deuteronomy 11:22-23].

It was my third birthday. I remember it well. Dad and Mom were there, along with the several siblings. There was a pretty, decorated cake with my name on it and three lit candles in the center. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of wrapping paper around a rectangular box. A decorative bow graced the top of the box.

My attention straightway went from the cake and siblings to Dad. He held the present, you see. My eyes were riveted on that box in wrapping paper and bow. Nothing else could compete. The world faded into the background, along with everything and everyone. All that existed in my mind was a rectangular box with wrapping paper and bow.

Alas for me, but Dad popped my bubble. The words he spoke went something like this:

Son, here is a list of your chores, itemized by hour and day. You are required to carry your weight, if you want to be a member of this family. Be sure you do every chore on this list and put a check mark next to the chore when you finish it.

If you perform your responsibilities perfectly and don’t fail even one time, then you will remain a part of this family. You will earn this reward which is wrapped in decorative paper with a bow on top. But should you fail even once, it’s curtains for you. You’ll have to hit the road and find someone else to put up with your failing ways.

Huh? I was only three. Was Dad kidding? Was he on drugs? What was wrong with that man?!

Okay. I confess. It didn’t really happen that way, not even close. But guess what. It did happen that way with the Israelites and the Lord. And no, the Lord wasn’t kidding…or on drugs either. The Israelites asked for it and the Lord accommodated them.

The Israelites were at their grand inauguration. They were to become the people of the Lord and represent Him to the world as His family. Trouble was, they were incompetent for the task at hand. Even worse, they didn’t know they were incapable of performing all their chores all the time without fail even once.

That was where the Law came in. Read the two Bible verses quoted at the start of this study. Do you see how the Lord laid a task on the Israelites, telling them that if they perfectly performed all their chores, then He would give them the rectangular box wrapped in decorative paper with a bow on top? Er, I mean He promised to give them the Promised Land as their own country, where they could represent Him to the world as His family.

Oops! We are out of time today. We will continue this subject on the morrow. For today enjoy some time alone with Jesus for a spell.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my books in the Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes Bible study series. To purchase my books please click on the "Shop" tab at the top of this page, where you will find a complete list of my books. Each book is available in both paperback (Createspace) and eBook (Kindle).

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