A Land of Milk and Honey
I was thinking about this today.. God offered the Israelites
a land flowing with milk and honey (Ex. 3:8)
I did a lot of thinking about what that meant for them. It
ended up meaning a 40 year hike through a desert. It ended up meaning a lot of
pain, a lot of suffering as people became sick, and died, and over all, that is
just one heck of a long hike!
I at once began thinking about the people that I am
surrounded by. I am living around Haitians who when they want milk sometimes
actually have to grab hold of an utter, and milk the dang cow.. And when they want honey, sometimes it means reaching
their hand into the beehive to get that sweet nectar. There is a price to pay
in order to get that milk and honey. Have you ever approached a dairy cow; especially
one with mammoth-like horns, sharp as well, a cows horn? Have you ever watched
that cow start to stare at you, then start to stomp its foot and snort? Then
have you ever watched a cow lower its head as if it were going to charge you?
Well, the other day on our walk to the river a friend of mine, Mikenson,
decided it would be hilarious to dare me to approach/push me toward such a cow.
I saw the anger in her eyes as I approach about 15′ from her. I felt as though
she wanted to kill me, and I still never got any milk from her.
As for honey, well, I haven’t had the opportunity to gather
my own honey, but I have been stung by a bee once maybe thrice in my life. I
have felt the pain of that sting and seen the awesome welt that it left on my
arm and on my leg, yet I still never received any honey from those bees.
With all of these thoughts in my head it made me think about
this life that we live. Our land flowing with milk and honey, our “promised
land” is Heaven. It is a gift that we are given out of love from our amazing
God. The only thing we are told is to walk to it.
Jer. 6:16
This is what the good
Lord says, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask
where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
This isn’t just a 40 year walk, but it is quite possibly 80,
90, even a 100 year walk. As we walk toward that land of Milk and Honey, we are
bound to get bumped, bruised, and stung. We are bound to get lost and turned
around. When we reach in to get some honey we are likely to get stung. When we
go to grab a bit of milk we face possible death by horns. The truth is that
milk and honey in its most pure state are not the easiest things to get. Life
is hard people. There are ups, downs, bumps, stings, pain, and what seems like
endless wandering; but that is life. Keep your eyes on the prize, march forth
with patient endurance. Keep the faith, press on toward the goal no matter what
life throws at you, because in the end we believe that the land of milk and
honey is well worth the troubles and trials of this life..
2 Tim 4:7-8
“I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in
store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all who have
longed for his appearing.”
