New place, old dependence

Just when God's people seemed most settled, God made them live in temporary accommodation! This is the challenge of the Feast of Tabernacles.

The gathering in of the harvest in Old Testament times was marked by a seven-day festival. It was the glad celebration of the fact that the Israelites were now in the land God had promised them. No more wandering as nomads from place to place, pasture to pasture. They were now in their own land. They could till the ground to their heart's content and expect to be around to benefit from the crops it produced.

In the midst of this very celebration came God's instruction: "Live in booths for seven days … so that your descendants will know that I made the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 23:42-43).

This taught the Israelites always to remember that they were dependent on God – an important lesson for all of us to learn. I've learned it afresh as I have migrated from Worcester to Leigh to take up my role as pastor at Bethany. I have had to depend on a number of people for practical help. To my relief, and to their credit, they have given this readily and cheerfully.

People ask, "Are you beginning to feel settled?" The answer is, happily, yes – I am beginning to feel settled already. But I should never become too settled. I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus tells His disciples to follow Him – not stop with Him in one place, but follow where He leads. Typically, disciples would fall in behind their chosen rabbi as he moved from place to place, listening carefully, picking up the pearls of wisdom that he uttered.

Maybe the disciples were not always sure where Jesus was going, but they followed Him anyway: He had words of eternal life to share with them (John 6:68). In the end it became very clear that He was heading for Jerusalem, a scene of crisis where He would die and rise again. Still they followed. They would not regret it.

Thank you for your interest in my progress as I move to a new chapter in my life's heavenward journey. I look forward to it. Right now I have just one question for you:

Are you ready to follow?

An irrational thought

This morning I had a completely irrational thought. Here I am on Monday, with a virtually empty diary for the next 3 days. Moving day is Thursday. I shall be on the go from early Thursday morning till late in the evening. If only I could spread the hectic activity of Thursday over four days instead of one, to make it less manic!

Of course, that is totally silly. Moving day is moving day. The van is booked for that day. The keys get collected that day. My squad of kind helpers and the letting agents have that day, and no other, in their diaries. I cannot do half the move one day and half the next - at least, not without putting a lot of people to unnecessary trouble.

In Ecclesiastes chapter 3 we read, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven". One day is right for being born and another is right for dying. One day is right for planting and another for uprooting, and so on. Someone once spoke on the radio about Indian weddings. In the West people plan, prepare and make bookings months in advance. In the Indian culture nothing happens for ages. Then suddenly everyone decides that the right time has come. Everything falls into place in a frantic last-minute rush. It can be a disaster, but most of the time it works out wonderfully well!

In the gospels we read that Jesus would not do certain things because His time had not yet come. Then "just at the right time ... Christ died for the ungodly". If Jesus was wise about the timing of such an important event, I must be wise in accepting the right timing for my move and the longed for start at my new church, Bethany Evangelical Church in Leigh. Thursday, and not before, is moving day. Saturday, and not before, is my induction and a week today, and not before, is the starting day of my employment. Let me not even think of stretching or squeezing time.