If you follow this blog/podcast you know that I enjoy hiking. The break from routine, the freedom to explore, and the delight of discovery refresh my soul. I see handiwork of God in the breathtaking panoramas, dramatic skies, intricate flowers, diverse wildlife, nourishing sunlight, and whistling wind. Nature sings a love song to its creator. When I wander the land I become a part of this symphony of goodness and praise. Providing a land to enjoy is one way God draws you closer to himself.
What Is the Land?
Throughout history, and even now, God is calling people from where they are to something better with him. Several generations after creating the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, humankind had become intolerably wicked. Every inclination of their hearts was evil (Genesis 6:5). God called Noah and anyone who would listen to come away on an ark and be saved, for God was going to cleanse the earth with a flood. After the flood God provided a new land and a fresh start for those who trusted him (Genesis 9:1-17). When God started the Hebrew nation, he called Abram out from his homeland to a blessed land that God would show him (Genesis 12:1-3). Centuries later when the nation of Israel was oppressed as slaves in Egypt, God used Moses to deliver them from bondage and return them to their promised land where he would be their God and they would be his people to represent him so all nations could come to know God (Exodus 19:1-6). God physically moving people from one land to a better land symbolizes a more important spiritual migration that occurs still today. Every day for whoever trusts him, God is delivering them from their old self-centered life to a new, abundant life with him.
Why You Need to Migrate to a New Land
You and I are selfish, broken people like everyone else. We need God to rescue us. Although we may do some good, we have done plenty that is wrong and must be accounted for. Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God, people inherited a core tendency to serve themselves over serving God and others. This separates us from God and will eventually end in our death. Fortunately God is calling us out from that wasteland. Each of us needs to dwell in a new land spiritually—a land that is set apart where God is the benevolent king and savior who restores us to all he designed us to be in Jesus. In this spiritual kingdom God provides safety, sanctuary, peace, prosperity, and power to live rightly as a part of his royal family. If you reject God’s saving call and choose to continue to live in your self-centered state, you will not be able to cope with the damaging results of your sin and the sin that others and this fallen world inflicts. Apart from God people cannot deal correctly and completely with trauma, pain, worry, loss, and vulnerability. So they isolate, complain, cancel, hate, take revenge, abuse people or substances, and vainly strive to save themselves. Only God can save you. That’s why king David exhorted the nation of Israel in Psalm 37. “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land” (Psalm 37:3-9).
How to Dwell in the Land
To experience ongoing salvation and new life with God, give him what holds you back or enslaves you and let him help you work through it or eliminate it. First trust Jesus, God the Son, to save you from your sin, for he died to pay the penalty for your sin and rose again to give you victory over it. Confess any wrongdoing and receive his forgiveness (1 John 1:9). Ask him to give you the wisdom and power to live rightly, putting him and others before yourself. Then obey what he tells you. In your new life dwelling with God in his kingdom, there will be threats and challenges which seek to pull you back to where you used to live. Don’t go back. Give those thoughts, feelings, habits, temptations, and circumstances to God. Let him heal your pain and loss. Let him teach you to control your anger. Let him calm your worries and anxiety. Let him address your insecurities and conquer your fears. Take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:5). Adopt a positive mindset and a thankful heart. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). Let God redeem difficulty by drawing you ever closer to himself. Don’t let anything come between you and God. Let him provide for your every need. Dwell in his land where love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control flow from his Spirit who lives in you to transform you into the likeness of Jesus (Galatians 5:16-26).
An Even Better Land Is in Store
If you trust and obey Jesus you enjoy dwelling in a new land spiritually, yet you are still here in a fallen world with all its self-inflicted problems. Fortunately, there is more to God’s restoration plan. Soon in his perfect timing God will renew the earth and finish renewing believers—his people. When Jesus returns to consummate his kingdom he will reward believers and gather them to reign with him as he restores righteousness on earth for 1,000 years. He will judge unbelievers, vanquish evil, and banish Satan. Then he will introduce a new heaven and earth where there will be no more pain, sorrow, or death. Believers will receive glorified bodies and intimately know God and each other as God knows them. They will joyfully serve, commune, and worship together as a forever family with God as their loving Father (Revelation 19:11-21:8). It will be truly awesome—beyond anything you have imagined (1 Corinthians 2:7-10).
Conclusion
You and I live in a challenging land and time. We face a continual struggle to survive because we don’t have the ability or resources to address our core problem of self-centered sin and the toll it takes on us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Thank God that he loves you and has provided a better land. He is calling you to live differently with him. He sent Jesus to became a man in order to lead you out from the spiritual wasteland where you are enslaved into a bountiful land of freedom and prosperity with him where you can thrive. Dwell in God’s kingdom now and in the even greater kingdom to come by trusting and obeying Jesus each day. Then help others find and follow Jesus so they too can dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.