keep on corralling

"That day when you stood before God, your God, at Horeb...You gathered. You stood in the shadow of the mountain. The mountain was ablaze wtih fire, blazing high into the very heart of Heaven. You stood in deep darkness and thick clouds. God spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but you saw nothing--no form, only a voice. He announced his covenant, the Ten Words, by which he commanded you to live...Guard yourselves...stay alert. Don't for a minute forget the covenant which God, your God, made with you.
You were shown all this so that you would know that God is, well, God. He's the only God there is. He's it...Obediently live by his rules and commands which I'm giving you today so that you'll live well and your children after you..."--Dueteronomy 4

Moses spoke these strong warnings to the Israelites when they were on the brink of entering the Promised Land. Years of wandering the desert, years of disobeying God, & years of incessant grumbling had brought them to this very point with God speaking through Moses, informing the chosen people of what they would be faced with. God's chosen child, Israel, had heard the very voice of God, seen His power through fire, seen the very heart of Heaven--yet she was still disobedient. Still grumbling. Still prone to wander. If Israel had to be reminded over & over again after having heard God Himself (it's almost embarrassing how often throughout Deuteronomy they had to be reminded) to trust & obey God's commands, how much more do I need reminding? A girl living in Franklin Tennessee, age 29, is prone to searching for children's furniture online, prone to watching Days of Our Lives, prone to fixing my gaze on winter coats and home decor...prone to wander anywhere that takes the focus away from Jesus & places the focus directly on me. Jesus knows this about me. Jesus knows I have to be corralled back into His gates. I am that sheep; that distracted, wayward sheep who wanders out on his own looking for other pastures in which to graze. I am so thankful that He warns us, cautions us, begs us to come back to Him. He will plead forever on my behalf to return my obedience to where it has come, & to where it should rightfully be placed. To read straight from Scripture that the Lord will be there if we seek Him out, that He'll find us when we want to be found, is a real comfort & joy. Keep on Corralling, Lord.