Constant Reminders

Christians need the Bible to live by. The Bible has the answers for salvation, for eternal security, and for a restored relationship with God. The Bible has the answers of wisdom, understanding, and discernment needed for this life. The Bible has the answers for growth in godliness, sanctification, and Christian character. The Bible has the answers for comfort, guidance, and strength for the difficulties of life. The Bible can guide the mind, minister to the spirit, and restore the soul. The Bible is everything.

It is easy to recognize and accept these facts. It is much harder to live these truths on a daily basis. Humans are weak, and life is busy. With all that a day or a week can introduce, it is easy to start living and thinking and making decisions without considering what the Bible has to say. One can easily proceed through large chunks of life without consciously pondering the words of Scripture, leaving him without the help that he most needs.

What is the answer? How can a believer be more consistently focused on his source of help? God gave some instructions to the Israelites, as He impressed on them the constant and comprehensive nature of their need for His Word.

"You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates" (Deuteronomy 11:18-20).

The simplest aspect of God's instruction was the external. "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. ... You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." The Israelites (and later the Pharisees) took these instructions literally, and the practice continues among orthodox Jews into the present. Phylacteries are small black boxes that contain portions of Scripture. These boxes are strapped to the forehead and the left arm during morning prayers, particularly by Jewish men.

This very practical exercise would indeed remind one of the importance of God's Word, at least as long as the phylacteries were worn. Placards on the doorpost of the house would serve as reminders each time one entered the home. Now for some honesty. Those well-intentioned reminders can quickly become commonplace and overlooked. How often do believers' eyes pass over the Bible verses posted on their walls without stopping even to read the words, much less consider them? Publically posted Scripture, whether on apparel or in the home, is helpful, but it is not the full answer.

"You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up." The posted Scripture can be a good prompt or reminder, but the need for Scripture goes much deeper. The Bible and its truth must become a central focus of life and permeate every aspect of life. The Bible's truth must come up frequently in consideration and conversation. Because the Bible has an impact on everything that a Christian does every day, the Bible should be remembered and referred to every day.

This does not refer simply to quoting Scripture at various times, especially not if the recitation is merely habitual. Rather, Christians are to seek to apply the truths of Scripture in the midst of life. At home or while traveling, the Bible's truth must be considered. When the day is ended and evaluated, or when a new day is begun and anticipated, God's truth must be pondered. Christians should regularly seek to filter their thoughts, activities, and decisions with the Scripture's guidance. As wonderful (and challenging) as this step is, there is still more.

"You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul." The Bible is more than just outward reminders. It is more than just practical, daily consideration. The deepest need is to internalize the Scripture. The Bible's words must become part of who believers are on the inside, at their deepest level. The Bible must drive and motivate them. This level of intensity does not come from occasional glances at a wall hanging or brief discussions of right behavior. This comes from sober, regular, devoted dependence on and study of God's Word.

Without this important internal devotion, the external reminders and even the thoughtful discussions will leave a Christian weak and without the help he needs. Indeed, believers are weak. It is far too easy to forget the very Scripture one needs. It is too easy to forget to think biblically. Sincere Christians will return to the Bible's truths on a regular basis, but the reality is that there are still gaps in that continuity. There are still stretches of time when the heart is not directed toward Scripture.

Truly Christians need constant reminders. They can and should utilize as many methods as possible to keep the Scripture in front of them. That very well may start with verse cards or posters or home decor. Wearing Scripture-emblazoned ties or carrying Bible-quoting tote bags, however, is only an empty show if not accompanied by a heart desire. Gradually, the daily conversations about and considerations of Scripture should increase. The more a Christian does these things, the closer he will come to the constant, internal, scriptural saturation that is necessary for life.

No results of this depth can happen immediately. Such results can be achieved, however, with God's help and by a habitual effort and intention to work toward those goals one step at a time. The more consistent that focus becomes, the more scripturally anchored a believer will be.

It's Not About You

The children of Israel were about to enter and conquer the land of Canaan. It would be a monumental job. They were trying "to dispossess nations greater and mightier" than them who lived in "great cities fortified to heaven" (Deuteronomy 9:1). Their foes were "great and tall," renowned as unconquerable (9:2).

The amazing thing is that Israel would win, and God told them that before they even started to fight. Joshua 12 lists the thirty-one kings who were quickly defeated by Israel. Some of those victories, like Jericho, were unusual, as the walls of the city collapsed before Israel. Some were strategic, like the feigned retreat and deadly ambush at Ai. Some were daunting, like the five kings who banded together and all came at once. Some were routine and laborious, just another battle on another day.

Israel was not a nation with a grand military tradition. They had not reached the size that would require an army until they were in Egypt, and at that time they were slaves. They left Egypt without military might, training, or supplies. They wandered in the wilderness for forty years and had a few skirmishes during that time, but were most often isolated. It seemed unlikely that such a poorly-trained and poorly-equipped army could win any battle, but they decisively won battle after battle until the nations around them lived in dread and fear.

What a thrill those conquests must have been! How exciting for the soldiers to come home and tell their stories! How easy it could have become for those men to consider themselves great warriors and strategists! Ah, but now they have gone a step too far. In fact, Israel was not made of great warriors and strategists. It was not Israel who accomplished those great and improbable victories.

Before they even started the conquest, God warned them about such lofty thinking. "Do not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them out before you, 'Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land'" (9:4). "It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess the land" (9:5). "Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people" (9:6).

Israel was not going to conquer the land because of her own merits. God repeatedly told them so, and verse 6 particularly drives that point home by reminding them that they weren't all that righteous themselves. Verses 7-29 further develop that idea. Israel neither deserved the land of Canaan, nor did she procure it through her own strength.

Israel's possession of Canaan was not about them. It was about God. God was the one who decided that Israel would inherit Canaan, God was the one who made it possible, and God had His own plans and purposes for the conquest. Two primary divine motives are revealed in this passage.

God's first divine motive was to reveal His own character. God was going to drive out the heathen nations "in order to confirm the oath which the LORD swore to [Israel's] fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" (9:5). God was going to give Israel the land because He had said He would. The fulfillment would display God's truthfulness and His faithfulness to His word. God wanted to show His might on Israel's behalf so that the heathen nations would know of the true God. By the time Israel arrived in Canaan, the residents already lived in fear because they had heard of the mighty power of God.

God's second divine motive was specifically to reflect on His holiness. Israel was not getting the land because they were righteous; rather, the other nations were losing their land because they were wicked. "But it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you" (9:4). "But it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you" (9:5). God allowed the wicked nations time and opportunity to repent, but when they did not, His holiness could not allow them to continue to prosper. Ironically, the same motivation would later cause God to remove His own unrighteous people from their land and give it to other wicked nations. Babylon and Chaldea didn't get the land because they were righteous, but because Israel was wicked.

God's motives reveal that Israel wasn't granted the land because of her own merits. It wasn't primarily about Israel. God's actions reveal that even the conquering of the land was not by Israel's own merits. If Israel had any idea of conquering the land by her own might, she was sadly mistaken. The conquering was all about God also.

"It is the LORD your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you" (9:3). "When the LORD your God has driven them out before you" (9:4). "The LORD your God is driving them out before you" (9:5). This concept should have been obvious to any clear-headed observer. God made the walls of Jericho collapse after the people merely walked around them and blew trumpets. God made the men of Ai believe the trap and leave their city completely unguarded. God threw hailstones from heaven that killed more enemies than Israel's soldiers did. God made the sun stand still to provide a day long enough to finish a battle. God made city after city fall without a single survivor. It wasn't Israel who accomplished such amazing exploits. It was God.

When God works in the lives of His children, whether in blessing or trial, that work is not exclusively for those individuals. Rather, God is demonstrating His character and bringing Himself glory. Man is so small in the entire process. God is big.

Man's Wisdom

Before he died, Moses strongly appealed to the children of Israel, admonishing them to faithfully follow God. Many of his words recounted the history of the previous generation, cautioning the new generation not to repeat the failures of their fathers.

As the Israelites stood on the verge of entering and conquering the Promised Land, Moses related what had happened thirty-eight years earlier when Israel had been in the same position. In doing so, he shared a telling detail that is not recorded elsewhere.

When the time had come for the first generation to enter the land, Moses had told them, "See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed" (Deuteronomy 1:21).

Moses' instruction was simple and straightforward. It was a call to action. The men were to boldly march forward and claim what God had given them. The people, however, were not quite ready to take that step. Rather than rushing in to conquer, as they were instructed, they had an idea that called for some caution and evaluation.

Moses recalls what the older generation had requested: "Then all of you approached me and said, 'Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter'" (Deuteronomy 1:22).

In essence, they were not ready to move forward in faith, trusting God to guide them and deliver the land. These men wanted to have a plan. They wanted to gather information and devise strategy. They wanted to make sure they would be able to accomplish the task. Their wisdom said to be cautious.

Their wisdom did not seem deficient. In fact, even Moses thought it was a good idea. "The thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe" (Deuteronomy 1:23). According to the proposed plan, the spies were chosen, they went to search out the land, and they came back with their report.

That's where the wisdom of man backfired. The report, while acknowledging the richness of the land, also gave the analysis that the job could not be done. Faith took a back seat, and the congregation made a disastrous decision based on the wisdom of man.

(Just as a note, the account in Numbers 13 says that God instructed Moses to send spies into the land, making it sound like it was God's idea. We do not have explanation of how these two motivations for the spies fit together. We don't know which came first. Did God give His command in response to what the people had demanded, allowing them to follow their own course? Did the people make their demand, not knowing that God had already given a similar instruction? What seems to be different is the intended purpose for the spies. God's command is very simple: "Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel" (Numbers 13:2). God wanted them to see what He was about to give them. The people's request had a narrower purpose; they wanted to be able to devise a plan of attack. I believe that was never God's intent. God demonstrated through the eventual conquest that the Israelites did not have to rely on their own wisdom and did not have to figure out a battle plan. That was God's job, and He used unique and interesting tactics that varied from town to town. While we don't have full insight into the interplay between the two accounts, the fact that Moses records this detail in Deuteronomy as a caution reveals that relying on man's wisdom had been disastrous.)

This is not the only time that Israel had to choose between God's wisdom and their own. The books of Joshua and Judges are good places to study this concept. Whenever people sought God's wisdom for a course of action, the result was success. When they relied on their own wisdom, however, the result was failure.

God is right when He says, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isaiah 55:8-9). When man takes it upon himself to make decisions based solely on his own wisdom, he makes bad choices. "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 16:25).

It is so much better to trust God's wisdom and follow His guidance. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

This is critically true when God has already given His guidance. When God instructs someone to do something, the proper response is obedience. Hedging or delaying, adapting and adjusting God's instruction, is inviting disaster. There is a legitimate place for seeking additional wisdom from God, but often man's questions about "How?" and "When?" - of wanting every detail to be in place before beginning to obey - are merely attempts to superimpose man's wisdom. God might even permit man to follow his own adaptation, allowing man to reap the consequences of his choices (and hopefully learning through the experience).

When God tells a Christian to move forward, the proper response is to trust and obey. The plan may not humanly seem to make sense. It may even seem impossible. Some details may still be uncertain. Subjecting God's instruction to man's evaluation, however, is to invite disaster. When one simply obeys, God will work out the details, and God will bless His plan.

Pricks and Thorns

As Israel camped along the Jordan River, contemplating the impending distribution and conquest of Canaan, Moses spoke many words of caution and challenge. At God's direction, he urged the people to achieve a complete conquest of the land. God instructed, "You shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places" (Numbers 33:52).

It was the tragedy and downfall of Israel that they did not obey this command. They did conquer many, defeating thirty-one kings in the beginning of the conquest (Joshua 12). The early chapters of Joshua are filled with phrases like "utterly destroyed" and "no survivor." Then the Bible records other results. "Now as for the Jebusites ... the sons of Judah could not drive them out." "But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer." "But the sons of Manasseh could not take possession of these cities, because the Canaanites persisted in living in that land" (Joshua 15-17, also Judges 1).

God had the power to drive those nations out, single-handedly if He so desired, but He chose to allow those remnants to remain. In fact, after Israel displayed a habit of disregarding God and His commands, God stated, "I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk in it as their fathers did, or not" (Judges 2:21-22).

Moses had warned of the danger inherent in an incomplete conquest. "But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live" (Numbers 33:55).

The remaining nations would be pricks and thorns. They would irritate and trouble Israel. Except for limited periods of servitude, those other tribes didn't control Israel, but they were a constant problem. Conflicts and wars persisted throughout Israel's history. Those nations remained a threat. The greatest threat, however, was not military or political. It was spiritual.

God allowed those troubling nations to remain as a test of Israel's faithfulness. With the presence of heathen nations who worshiped false gods, would Israel remain true to Jehovah? Sadly, most of them would not. Instead, they were influenced by their pagan neighbors. They intermarried with them. They worshipped their idols. They paid homage to their false gods. The ebb and flow of idolatry persisted throughout Israel's history, eventually leading to God's judgment through foreign captivity.

Solomon presents a good individual example of this great struggle. Solomon had a heart to serve and follow God, clearly revealed through his prayer in I Kings 8. Solomon started out well, but then he started to marry foreign wives. God had warned what would happen. "They will surely turn your heart away after their gods" (I Kings 11:2). Solomon lost his whole-hearted passion for God. "His wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God" (I Kings 11:4).

Solomon had good intentions. He followed God for a while. He followed God partially. But his end was a disaster, because he allowed ungodly influences into his life, and those influences turned his heart.

Israel had good intentions. They followed God for a while. They had times of revival, and there were individuals who remained faithful. But the end of Israel was a disaster, because they allowed ungodly people to be pricks and thorns that troubled them and turned them from God.

Like Israel, many Christians want to walk a dangerous line. Yes, they want to follow God. Yes, they want to please and serve  Him. But they also want to enjoy certain aspects of the world. They think they can do both. They think the things they have chosen are relatively harmless; surely they won't influence them away from God.

The Bible tells a different story. "Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?" (Proverbs 6:27-28). These verses speak particularly of immorality, but the principle is clear. There are things that a Christian simply cannot expose himself to without being adversely affected. Worldly things will have an unwelcome impact.

Peter states the truth even more strongly. "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul" (I Peter 2:11). By partaking of the entertainment, culture, and friendship of the world, a Christian is actually bringing himself into a dangerous battlefield. These things will attack his very soul. They have the potential to cause disaster. They will certainly reduce his impact for God and might even stamp it out completely. What seems small and insignificant to start might be the doorway to spiritual destruction.

For those who desire to follow God, the safest path is to utterly destroy, to chase out all of the damaging influences. Christianity is not easy. Why allow troubling pricks and thorns to remain? Why invite a Trojan horse that will wage war on the soul? To allow just a few, just a little bit, just the small things, is to invite disaster.