Looking at the end of Numbers and the beginning of Deuteronomy and trying to figure out what I can glean for a disciple-making nugget. I was interested in how the “disciple-making” Levites were taken care of and provided for by the community.

 “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities.  The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts.  The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits^[a] all around.  And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities. – Numbers 35:2-5  ESV

Being with the Navigators who are a deputized mission, it shows how important it is to make this a ministry that is fully supported by the community they serve.

Deuteronomy starts with a similar message that came through yesterday. There is a time to wait, but at some time you have to get up and go! I pray that I can discern the difference between the two as they are both significant steps.

“The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.  Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.  See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’ – Deuteronomy 1:6-8  ESV

I jumped to Acts 23 to get some New Testament reading in and Paul’s true colours come out here. He opens with the assumption that he can say what he wants, when he wants, and earns a slap on the mouth. Then he angrily responds and then has to apologize right away.  If Paul can lose it, so can I. How do I pass by my assumptions and emotions?

And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high priest?” And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’” – Acts 23:1-5  ESV

While I have not been on a specific track today, I picked up a few things to ponder.