I was watching an episode of Man vs. Wild last week, and Bear Grylls was about to scale down a fairly sheer mountain wall. He said: "Downclimbing is so often more dangerous and difficult then climbing up, just because it's much less natural."
I thought that was a potentially profound statement.
Joshua 5: 13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
John Gill: Verse 13. ...and said unto him, [art] thou for us, or for our adversaries? by his appearing in this warlike posture, he concluded it was to take on one side or the other, either on the side of Israel, or of the Canaanites; and he seemed to suspect that it was on the side of the latter, and that he was one that was come to defy the armies of Israel, as Goliath afterwards did, 1 Samuel 17:8; and to engage in a single combat with Joshua their general, and so decide the war; in which, had this been the case, Joshua was ready to fight with him.
Verse 14. And he said, nay,.... Not for or on the side of their adversaries was he come, as Joshua suspected at the first sight of him...
but [as] Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come; of the host of the Lord both in heaven and in earth, angels and men, and particularly of the people of Israel, called the armies and host of the Lord, Exodus 7:4; so that though Joshua was general, Christ was Generalissimo; and so Joshua understood him, and therefore showed a readiness to do whatsoever he should command him; the spiritual Israel of God, the church, is in a militant state, and has many enemies to combat with, sin, Satan, the world, and false teachers; Christ is their Leader and Commander, the Captain of their salvation, and has all necessary qualifications or wisdom, courage, and might, for such an office; see Isaiah 55:4;
and Joshua fell on his face to the earth; in reverence of this divine and illustrious Person, whom he perceived to be what he was:
and did worship; gave him religious worship and adoration, which had he been a created angel he would not have given to him, nor would such an one have received it, Revelation 19:10;
and said unto him, what saith my Lord unto his servant? that is, what commands had he to lay upon him, and he was ready to execute them? he was heartily willing to be subject to him as the chief general of the Israelitish forces, and to consider himself, and behave, as an officer under him, and to obey all orders that should be given.
Verse 15.And the Captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua,.... As a trial and proof of his obedience to him:
loose thy shoe from off thy foot; which is to be understood literally, as when the like was commanded Moses at Horeb, Exodus 3:5; though some interpret it figuratively; as Abarbinel, "remove from thee such thoughts that thou shall take this city by strength:"
for the place whereon thou standest [is] holy; because of the presence of this Person, and as long as he was there, though afterwards was as another place; the Jewish commentator, last mentioned, thinks this intimates that the city, and all in it (and all round about it), should be "cherem," devoted, and so be holy to the Lord:
and Joshua did so; loosed his shoe from his foot, in obedience to the Captain of the Lord's host, thereby giving proof of his readiness, willingness, and alacrity to serve under him.
Everything and everyone in this world is more valuable when they are made scarce. While paucity is never desired when it comes to good things, the value and worth of those good things increases as they become more rare. Natural resources, money, people...they all increase in value when they become harder to attain. So, in a strange way, we should desire these good things to remain somewhat scarce, or else they might lose their goodness.
So, why does God make himself infinitely available to us?
If he starved us for him, for his blessings, for his presence, wouldn't so many of his people yearn for him with far more fervency than they do now? Wouldn't his name be sweeter on our lips if we were not allowed to utter it with such flippancy, and sometimes even with malice? Wouldn't his words be more beautiful to our minds' eyes, more indelible to our hearts if we did not have such easy access to them? Wouldn't free fellowship with him be vastly more desirable if our freedom to do so was only offered us for tiny windows of time every month?
Sometimes I think that loving God is harder when he grants us so much peace around our respective territories, when he makes himself so available to us. His blessings almost become burdens, in more ways than one. His availability to me almost becomes suffocating, and I near the point of tears when I realize how little of him I truly access each day.
This is where I have been lately. I am struggling with God's blessings, even his grace towards me. They become burdensome to me sometimes, partly because they are so undeserved, partly because I am too feeble and sullied to fully appreciate their profound worth.
I hate the fact that my love for him seems to be alloyed with every signpost of heaven he plants on my path.
Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter answered him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!" And all the disciples said the same. ... Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean." And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." And again he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man." After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you." Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly. - Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75
Once again these bitter herbs The perfect complement to all your cryptic words I nod but don't know what to say, but I know you And I believe you're who you say you are so I...
I will follow you, lay down my life I would die for you, this very night
Once again the bread and wine But it seems the meanings may be deeper still this time And you surprised me when you said I'd fall away, don't you know me I could never be ashamed of you, no I...
I will follow you, lay down my life I would die for you, this very night
I've never been this cold, the fire's gravity compels Like planets cling to sol, I feel my orbit start to fail Like moths to flame I come, too close and all my oaths are burned As stars begin to run, all my accusers take their turn And calling curses down, from my lips lies like poison spill And then that awful sound, the sound of prophesy fulfilled And then I met your eyes, and I remember everything And something in me dies, the night that I betrayed my king
I was watching an episode of Man vs. Wild last week, and Bear Grylls was about to scale down a fairly sheer mountain wall. He said: "Downclimbing is so often more dangerous and difficult then climbing up, just because it's much less natural."
