Once a human… always a human! While time rolls forward, we see the world changing around us, from advancing technologies, to climate changes as well as societal behaviors and interactions.
The more I read about our history, through the bible, the more I’ve been seeing that from the beginning til now… humanity still remains the same, deep within. We like to think of history past as that time in our development where we just didn’t know what we know now… didn’t know any better or didn’t have the tools we have now. It seems, in my human opinion, that we’re the same stiff necked people now, as the Israelites were all those years ago.
It so happens that, as I’ve been reading through the journey of the Israelites, I have simultaneously been reading Paul’s letters to the churches, in both Romans and Corinthians. One day I’ll follow the story of the Israelites journey, as they prepare to enter the promise land… and the next day I’ll spend time reading through the letters that Paul wrote to the church. It almost feels like Paul was often narrating the Israelites story from old, as he tried to teach and encourage Christians, as the number of believers began to grow.
Interestingly enough, even after Jesus died and rose again to free us from the penalty of sin, we still opted to live under the old laws… still chose to live sinfully, using the name of Jesus as our get out of jail free card. The believers in Corinth may have looked at the Israelites as the ones with all the spiritual bad habits and disobedience, but as Paul wrote his letters to the church, they were freely sinning against God and each other within their very own communities, at that time. Idol worship had simply changed faces… became modernized, dolled up, and self-justified. The church still battled with immorality, adultery, incest, backbiting, slandering, coveting, etc. Even today, the church still struggles with the very same things that the Israelites, as well as the Corinthians, were always plagued with… sinful human nature!
Old habits die hard, they say, and good old fashioned human nature is a habit that only ends upon the return of the King! I have told you before and I’ll say it again… I am not trying to teach anything here, only to share observations I’ve gleaned, during my study of scripture. Also, just because it might look bad for us humans, I see something to the contrary… goodness, in fact! Think about it! God has remained faithful, patient, loving and oh so forgiving, even to this day! He steadfastly carries us onward toward the home He has prepared for us, with all our warts, flaws, and dirty laundry. I am confident of this… it WILL all come out in the wash, as they say, when we come to the end of our journeys.
At no time has God yet to revoke our free will to choose the paths we walk, allowing us to believe or deny, to follow Him or turn to our own way. Humans are born with a physical body, a soul residing within, and a mind to use for learning and growing. Mankind must learn to master its very self, making choices that will determine how one navigates the world it was born into… some choices good, some bad, but all made freely as our God given right! Whether it be an Israelite from so long ago, down the paths of history, or a modern day man… we face the same choices between right and wrong. We still must navigate through the rewards or consequences of our choices and actions, same as our predecessors did.
The ONE thing that separates us from our beginnings is the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ… the SON of our Creator… the Righteousness of God!
That is definitely something to write home about!
Journey With Me! 