We Are Such Whimps

Have you ever thought about what people were like in Yeshua’s time? Not just causually wondered, but really thought about it? When you are in the Land, it’s hard not to do just that. And while contemplating what they were like, you can’t help but look around (and in the mirror) and think how we are such whimps by comparison.

While atop Masada, I was standing inside the Southern Gate. The audio guide said this was originally the only way in – a steep path along the cliff. What kind of people could climb that? Not only did it take strength and endurance to make that climb, but courage. You see, me and height don’t get along so well.

I mentioned before, when writing about Tel Be’er Shebah, how small the rooms were. They are not much larger in Masada, including the palace rooms. In many cases, families had to share quarters atop Masada.

Looking across the Dead Sea to the mountains of Moab, as well as looking across the plain in Be’er Shebah, you can’t help but think about the great distances Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had to walk. Even in Jerusalem, when watching the movie about a worshipper coming to the Temple, hearing how it would take weeks to walk to there so he could worship God, is mind boggling.

As you knw, this year I’m with a group of people. Each of us has a complaint about something. Whether it’s the fact that we have to share a room with others, or the lack of variety of food, or that we are doing too much walking, or the condition of the accomodations, or…

I could go on, but you get the point. Now I’m not bringing this up to point a finger (there are three pointing right back at me), or to say the people are bad. But all the complaining, when looking at what life was like in Yeshua’s time (and before) got me to thinking that we really are a bunch of whimps, and it effects our spiritual walk and witness.

What is going to happen when persecution comes? Are we going to walk away from our Messiah for the sake of convenience and comfort? Here we are, in the land, surrounded by His Spirit, and we fuss and fume over the living conditions, or people’s attitudes and behavior, or anything else that doesn’t line up with what we want or think should happen. Rather than soaking in the experience, we are looking at circumstances.

I can’t help but think about the young girl in Columbine who, with a gun to her head, had a choice. Denounce Jesus or die. She chose death. Would we? If we can’t put up with a little discomfort so we can afford to come to the Land, will we really choose death?

It’s not only our group that should be asking these questions. As I said the other day, God has given the United States a reprieve. Persecution is coming. Loss of rights is coming. Choosing death or life is coming. Are we ready?

Test yourself.

  • Other than using your car for work, try walking to the store every day for your food.
  • Instead of using an elevator, try taking the stairs.

  • Instead of using all clothes in your closet, pick out four outfits and wear only them – at least twice before laundering.

Do it for a two weeks and watch what happens to your attitude. I think you will find, as we have, that we are a bunch of whimps in need of physical and spiritual training.

It’s time to get in shape. Our Master is coming and we need to get the house in order.

2 Responses to We Are Such Whimps

  1. James November 12, 2016 at 12:17 pm #

    Modern conveniences have made western people pretty lazy, but there are still parts of the world where people live under difficult conditions.

    Even life in Roman and Greek population centers would seem terribly primitive to us, even among the elite and wealthy, but then they had nothing to compare it to. It was “normal”.

    Although I’ve taken the week off from the gym to help my aging body recover, I do take the stairs to the third floor of the building I work in every day, sometimes going up and down several times.

  2. Ro Pinto November 14, 2016 at 2:14 pm #

    Stairs…today was a day for stairs! We went up and down over 200 stairs this morning at Elijah’s Cave, then 183 stairs at Megiddo – and those are only the ones someone counted!

    As we are traveling around, we realize that many people still live this way. I do a lot of walking and lifting at work, but nothing prepared me for Israel.

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