May 7, 2020From an early age, I have enjoyed travelling and seeing new places. My parents took my sister and me to many vacation spots in Canada and the United States, including Florida, when we were growing up. As a young adult, I had the privilege of going to Europe and serving with Operation Mobilization, a Christian group dedicated to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. In prayer meetings, leaders like George Verwer and Jonathan McRostie displayed a map of the world, identifying different people groups and leading a time of prayer for them. In our living room, we have a world map that I enjoy looking at, as we have put photos of friends who are serving the Lord around the world.
Have you ever noticed that the country of Israel is in the middle of the map? As the book of Joshua portrays, the people of Israel in the days of Joshua experienced times of victory and defeat, as they obeyed and disobeyed the Lord. In his commentary on the Old Testament, the late Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe wrote: “Canaan represents the Christian life as it ought to be: conflict and victory, faith and obedience, spiritual riches and rest. It’s a life of faith, trusting Jesus Christ, our Joshua, the Captain of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10), to lead us from victory to victory (1 John 5:4-5).”
With the novel coronavirus spreading to many countries in the world in recent months, more than three million people have been infected. That number may also have been the number of people who wandered in the wilderness of Egypt during the Exodus. When we think about sin, do we think about the deadly effects that it has on every person in the world? The apostle Paul wrote that “just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned … much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many” (Romans 5:12-15).
May we, as believers, point others to the Lord God, who transformed the life of men like Paul (who murdered Christians before his conversion) and will continue to pour out His grace on all who repent and turn to Him by faith.
Scripture for the weekend: “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”1 John 5:20 (NASB)
Thought for the weekend: “As you look at the ‘spiritual map’ of your Christian life, where are you living?” – Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe