CONSTANT CHALLENGES AND CONSTANT JOYS

Life is full of many challenges. Some are physical and circumstantial, but most are spiritual, related to the Christian life. It is hard to live a godly life in a world full of sin, temptation, evil...when I myself am a sinner, but saved by the grace and mercy of our great God. One of the things I so appreciate about being in Israel is the constant reminder that this was the land the Lord chose as a testing ground of faith for His people. In the picture above, I am standing in a valley that once was the dividing line between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah during the time of the divided monarchy. The cliffs in the background are the ones that Jonathan climbed down and then up to fight the Philistines when his father, Saul, was king. Though it was spring, it is the wilderness, and we had a definite reminder of why people living there would need to depend on the Lord for everything. It is a very uncertain place. At the end of our hike, we stood near a spring. It was amazing to see the word pictures in Psalm 1 come to life. The one who meditates on and learns from the Word of God "shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper." Another aspect of life in Israel that I love is constantly meditating and memorizing Scripture in the very places it was written, the places it was talking about, or in the areas the writer gained his word pictures and comparisons from. Last fall we memorized Psalm 48 while in Jerusalem. The psalmist says, "walk about Zion...", so we did. When we were in the wilderness, we memorized portions of Deuteronomy 8. "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart..." When we were in Samaria and Caesarea (where Gentiles lived in NT times) we memorized Ephesians 2:4-13. There is so much wisdom and instruction to be gained from Scripture. It is a constant challenge to read it, study it, meditate on it, memorize it, and live it. But it is oh, so joyful a task to do at the same time.