Weekly Reaction #5 - A God of Action

The readings this week were profound and intelligent. I enjoy writing that provides detailed explanations that demonstrate scholarship and depth of insight. The author seemed to have done her research with her knowledge of the Hebrew language and culture. One thing that came up in our discussion was how purposeful God was in leading his people to the promise land, a land that was in actuality a fragile, temperamental land. I guess I always had two pictures of the promise land in my mind. On one hand, Joshua leads the people into the “land flowing with milk and honey.” The spies bring back the huge fruit and tales of a successful people. In my mind, this is a place sounds like a paradise in which plants flourish and wildlife is abundant. But this is contrasted with the reading’s description of the land, “Seasonal aridity and periodic drought, a thin layer of topsoil, susceptibility to erosion – these mark the land of Canaan… (Chapter 2; Scripture, Culture and Agriculture). This was a land in which the people of Israel had to carefully take care of the land in order to survive. As we have been learning about the old testament in my scriptures class, we have often discussed how the Old Testament as a whole is meant to show us different parts of God’s character. And this often means looking at the stories as a compilation of a bigger picture with God as the master story teller.

And now that I think of it, God brought his people to the land of Canaan in order to build their faith in him. This is so profound to me and reveals something about God’s character. Number one, he brings us into different seasons of life that are not easy because he wants us to rely on him. We often deceive ourselves into thinking that God will bless us by bringing us an easy life. But where is the logic in that? I mean, if you look at it from God’s point of view, he wants us to fully trust him which is impossible if life is easy. With this in mind, we should be thankful for the struggles and challenges that God is using to build our faith

Number two, he expects us to be responsible with what he gives us. The Israelites had to trust God to provide for them but that did not mean they were passive. They had to carefully and responsibly care for the land. This meant learning how to sustain themselves on a land that was often dry and arid.

Another topic we talked about in class was the connection between the old testament and the new testament. It seems like the the readings this week took all of it’s reference from the old testament. So how does this issue of faith in God and sustainability make sense with the New Testament as the new context? The eighth chapter of this week’s reading talks about slothfulness, something I rarely think about in my future. But the reading defines being slothful as this, “Sloth may disguise itself as ‘conscientious work’ and meet with various forms of public approval or success. But work that is not motivated by love for the life of the community, beyond the temporal and spatial confines of one’s own small life, cannot free either worker or community from profound anxiety” (Chapter 8; Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture). In other words, slothfulness is selfishness, caring only for one’s own well-being. This is where the new testament speaks into this subject. The entire life of Jesus was about service to others. So I may not be able to change my culture. But I can control my life and use it to demonstrate biblical hard work in which I care about the well-being of others, whether it be my neighbors now or future generations of people. I also need to understand that trusting God has no merit unless I am actively trusting him with my actions. Our God is a God of action. We, therefore, should be people of action working to better his kingdom whether that means discipling others, spreading the gospel, or taking care of creation.