Dave Edlers Ramblings

How many times can you rise up in self righteousness and get away with it? How do you know if you are right? I don’t know about you but I think I’m right all the time. That old joke that “I thought I was wrong once but wasn’t” is kind of the way I think. I may find out later I was way off but while I’m in the middle of my “right” thinking it is hard to convince me.
In our journal reading today, in Numbers the people are rising up against Moses and by doing so God, and he keeps telling Moses to get out of the way so I can destroy them. Moses keeps pleading on behalf of this sinful people and God steps back. Finally though he opens the ground to swallow up some of the most vocal of the self righteous.
In the chapter from Mark they are accusing Jesus of being from Satan. He simply asks, “How can Satan cast our Satan?” How could he do all these good things if he were empowered by Satan? Because he is after all casting demons out of afflicted people.
The Old Testament cast of characters thought they were right. The New Testament cast of characters thought they were right. Yet in both places they were firmly positioned against the purposes of God. In both places these were people who were Godly, priests and teachers of the law.
Here is what I have to ask myself. If they could be that far off, what makes me think I’m not far off the mark too? Today I would simply say, the reading of the day has humbled me. And convinced me, that if not for God there I would go also. I need… need… to be still…a know He is God. I need to tune my life to that still small voice. Because on my own I’m in trouble.