ODJ: break camp and move on

April 7, 2014 

READ: Deuteronomy 1:1-8  

When we were at Mount Sinai, the LORD our God said to us, “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on” (vv.6-7).

In his book Seize the Day, Danny Cox, a former jet pilot turned business leader, explained why pilots needed a new ejection system. In the former system, when pilots initiated ejection, all they needed to do was clear the plane and roll forward out of the seat. During testing, however, the pilots wouldn’t let go of the seat during the process. The engineers came up with a solution. Two seconds after ejection commenced, an electronic take-up reel would immediately take up the slack and force the pilot forward out of his seat—freeing the parachute.

Just as pilots need to be forced out of their seats, God had to move Moses and the people of Israel from Mt. Sinai. After almost a year at the mountain (Exodus 19:1; Numbers 10:11-12), it’s likely they had become a bit comfortable there. God commanded Moses to break camp and move on (Deuteronomy 1:7). They would take the shortest and straightest route and the path wasn’t going to be easy.

It was time to enter the land of those who were considered skilled and feared warriors—risking the lives of all as they followed God’s will. Though this would be dangerous, it was all part of God’s perfect plan. It was time For Moses to break camp and move on and lead His people into “the land the LORD swore to give to [his] ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to all their descendants” (v.8).

It’s so easy to hold on to our seats and become comfortable where we are. That’s when God has to force us out of them, cause us to break camp and move us to the future He has for us. He calls us to leave the comfortable, be open to change, take steps of faith and trust Him in the face of the unknown. —Marvin Williams

365-day plan› 2 Samuel 13:1-19