A Good Land
For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey. – Deuteronomy 8:7-8
The beautiful ad in the paper pictured huge shrimp on a bed of rice. It advertised “giant” shrimp for a very reasonable
price. When I got to the market, there was already a line of eager customers, and I just knew they were all after the same item. My turn came and I
placed my order, was handed the box of shrimp, paid my bill, and took them home to prepare them. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box to find
it only half full of tiny salad shrimp!
How often are we deceived by a well-arranged advertisement, and when the product arrives, it does not come close to expectations? Perhaps a child has begged
you to buy a box of cereal or a fast food kids’ meal featuring a picture of a toy on its packaging, only to discover that the 10-inch picture was taken
of a 3-inch toy! Or have you ever purchased a dietary supplement that claimed it could make you “look and feel ten years younger,” but in actuality
it had no noticeable effect? Companies will stretch the truth as far as they can to get your money, so as consumers we must be very cautious.
When God told the Children of Israel about the land they could go in to possess, it must have sounded amazing! Today’s focus verses describe just some
aspects of that land, and the Israelites were told it was theirs for the taking. Had the promise come from anyone but the Lord himself, it would have
been unbelievable. But God was not exaggerating. Every word was true and more. He said it was a “good land,” and it really was!
When we tell others about the “good land” of the Gospel, we cannot always find the words to describe how wonderful it is, as much as we try. Words fail
to express the peace and joy and thrill we find in walking with the Lord. While advertising companies tend to overstate their products’ benefits, our
problem is just the opposite—we have a hard time not understating the blessings of the Gospel because it really is the best thing in the world.
Today, let us determine to share this amazing offer from the Lord with anyone who will listen, and pray that the lives we touch will realize it is even
better than we can advertise!