Keep On Moving… Hello weekend readers. My musings today are the epitome of the headline of this devotion, keep on moving…and for
Al and I, we really do move. You will get this devotion on April 5th, and on April 7th we are moving—again! Time to leave Arizona and go up to Northern New Mexico to work with the Army Corp of Engineers at Lake Abiquiu. People think we are crazy, but for us, we like to keep on moving. And who wants 115 degrees in summer in Arizona?

‘Keep on moving’ however, is more than just packing up a big rig and heading out to another state. It takes movement to move; even God talks about moving. We find the story of the Israelites on the verge of entering the Promised Land. But something was required of them.

They had to break camp and move! Moses said to the people in Deuteronomy 1:6-7 [CSB]: “The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb: ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites and their neighbors in the Arabah, the hill country, the Judean foothills, the Negev and the sea coast—to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates River.” Guess what, they weren’t happy and they didn’t want to go.

Where have you stayed long enough? For us, getting out into life is something we have always loved. Camping, exploring, finding new things in God’s creation. I’ll be honest, if we stayed in one place all the time, we’d go crazy! And worse, like the Israelites, you start to get comfortable in that space and without even realizing it, you have now embraced a life of complacency. What does that mean? Well, here are some answers from physicians, pastors, therapists…and yes, even the Lord!

*We become way too self-satisfied; we don’t feel the need to work, improve ourselves, etc. We have lost any sense of urgency. We don’t want to act on potential problems or danger. Why? We are way too comfortable with our status quo.

*Stagnation sets in. We are unwilling to push ourselves or take risks to achieve more. In fact, those who live in stagnation wind up dying way too soon.

*Negatively is the sister of complacency. We have a lack of concern, an unwarranted sense of security which fades quickly. Why bother, there’s no room for growth anyway.

*God Spoke to Moses and the Israelites. They were comfortable there. But their comfort had turned to complacency, they whined, became lazy, and did nothing; so God told them to “pack-up and get going!”

Wow, who wants to live that way? Well, here is a wake-up for you all from census workers and medical studies: “In 2021, 37.9% of adults (18.4 million), live that way.”

I wonder, do we need to do the same thing—stuck in our doubts and discomfort, no matter the cost? One of the things Al and I hear often at the campground is the words “Oh, this is beautiful, why have we waited so long to come here?” For many of our seasoned campers that we enjoy each year, they will tell you why they do it: “We come because we need the life-giving joy of God’s creation, the hikes, the mountains, the water, and we get to meet new people from all over the world. It keeps us going!”

In closing, this is what I think about moving: “To live in the promise, we must be aware of when we’ve been somewhere long enough; then we need to respond to God’s Word with faith to make the move God has for us next.” It takes trust, but God knows what he is doing, and as I say very often to you all, “what God does is always GOOD!” So go explore and let the God who loves you share the joy with you while you keep on moving. Amen!