July 11, 2012 – Joshua 14-15

Click here to read Ezra 10 on BibleGateway.com

I’ve always kind of been fascinated by the whole monk thing. On the surface, it looks so good: no temptations of the world, peaceful life, basic labor for work, and spending most of your time with God. Hard to find anything wrong with that idea (except for the whole singleness thing, of course; I need me some smooches from the wifey-poo). I can see why that sort of life might be kind of enjoyable.

SPREADING THE LOVE

Yet, reading through the Bible, it seems that this may be the exact opposite of what God intended for his people. Take a look at Joshua 14 from today’s reading. Notice that the tribe of Levi (the priest tribe) was given no land of their own, but they received towns scattered throughout the rest of the tribes, along with some needed pastureland for their sheeps and goatsies.

This seems like a bit of smack in the loincloth for the Levites, but if we think about it, it makes a kind of spiritual sense. God did not want the spiritual backbone of the nation to hide away in one area. There is too much of a danger that they would stay in their own “holy” region, and forget about the rest of the people. On the contrary, they were spread out among all the tribes, so that no person would ever be far from a spiritual figure to teach them God’s ways.

“BEWARE, THE PEASANTS ARE ON THE MARCH…”

This is the opposite of the monk mentality. Monasteries are designed to keep the righteous people in and the evil people out, so that they won’t disturb the people serving God inside. But the Bible indicates that serving others is a large part of serving God; we can’t serve God in isolation.

Yes, it’s hard. Yes, people are jerks. Yes, it’d be simpler to hide away behind our church walls, hanging out with people who believe the same, act the same, talk the same, dress the same, and raise their kids the same as we do. Yet God has called us to live a messy life. Hard to imagine that Jesus left the perfection of heaven to live among unwashed fishermen, but that’s the example he sets for us.

Today, look outside the walls of your cloister/church/circle of friends, and ask God to show you how to be more like the Levites, and a little less monky. (hee hee. Monkey. Sweet.)

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One Response
  1. Joshua says:

    1 Tim 4:1-3 (Monks?)
    Jer 16:9-21 (Why fishermen? v16)

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