Sunday, February 19, 2017

INTO CANAAN-INTRODUCTION

 It seemed like the deal of the century.  The script could have been written by the Publisher Clearing House promoters.  “Just sign up, there are millions of prizes.  It’s so easy and simple.  You can be led out of poverty and placed in a land “flowing with milk and honey””.  Who wouldn’t want to be a part of this adventure?  Who wouldn’t want to get in on this offer? 

But there was a little more to it than just getting on the bus, as Joshua and the Children of Israel would find out. 

Moving into Canaan was going to take more effort than some were ready to exert.  It would take more resolve than resources.  It was going to take trust, time and tenacity. For those who would hang on untill the mission was accomplished the promises were real but the process was going to be a real learning experience.  Because God was more concerned with how they would progress then what they would possess.  So He provided lessons every step of the way.

I had an instructor who taught like that many years ago.  I don’t know what became of her.  She may be dead now.  But this lady had a passion for teaching.  She was a registered nurse and a paramedic (RN/EMT-P).  Educated, skilled and drenched with a desire to pass on what she knew about saving lives and relieving the suffering of her fellow man. 

Not only was she my EMT instructor but she was also the Chief Medical Officer on my first emergency medical unit.  This fact provided me with hours of hands-on instruction which I am convinced made me into a much better paramedic than I could have ever been otherwise.

Her instructions went something like this:  We would be studying the different sounds of the respiratory system, the signs of a patient with various breathing maladies.  She would go over the information from the text but the next emergency call we would make, she would take my stethoscope, grab my hand and place it on the patient’s chest.  Listen to this” she would say.  Remember this sound.  This is what rales sound like.  Every time you hear it remember what it means”.

Or perhaps we would be treating a patient who was in shock; she would say “Do you remember the signs and symptoms of shock”?  See the pale, clammy skin?  Notice the rapid and shallow breathing.  Did you pick up on the weak and rapid pulse? This is what shock looks like.”

She taught the facts as well as the “feelings” of emergency medicine.  This is what God did as He led the Children of Israel into Canaan.

“Yes, you crossed the Jordan, but I want you to learn this”.

“Yes, you took this city but this is what I want you to know”.

“Yes, there are victories and defeats but this is why”.

So in my next few writings, I want to share a few of those lessons with you.  I don’t think I will live long enough, on this side of “my Jordan” to relate them all, but let’s look at a few of them together.  Because I am convinced that God is more concerned with making you more righteous than rich and more Holy than happy.  I believe He wants you to have more of His heart than his handouts. 

So strap on your “Sinai sneakers” and let’s take a journey with these pilgrims of promise and along the way see if we can learn a few lessons from the Lord. 

No comments:

Post a Comment