THE CHOSEN

"For many are called but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14).

Most of the people who read this blog know that I have been in the the Holy Land during the last couple of weeks, arriving home on the 23rd. I went to the Holy Land with a group from Sioux Falls Seminary. I usually audit a January term class every year at the seminary in the areas of psychology, counseling, marriage and family. This year I saw the offering of an educational Holy Land tour and decided to do that. It was only by the grace of God that I made the trip because I registered at the last possible minute of the last possible day. In fact the one who did the registrations at the seminary for this trip did not think I would be able to go. I tell you all this because on the last day of our tour, the tour guide told us, 'Not everyone who says they want to go comes to the Holy Land. I believe that those who come are chosen.' I'm not sure I agree, yet in my case it certainly seems to be true that the Lord wanted me on this tour.

I had some personal reasons for wanting to go. One was simply to have a greater understanding of the Scriptures so that I could better teach, preach and counsel. We alter our environments, but our environments alter us too. How did the environment of Bible times shape the lives of those who lived in the land of the Bible? Our tour guide told us a story about one tour group that he led that went to the desert where Masada is located. One of the leaders of that group used the bus riding time to preach to his people; he was a Baptist preacher. He condemned the Hebrew people for so quickly falling away from the Lord when they were making their journey to the promised land. He condemned them for their grumbling and complaining. Then the air conditioning on the bus broke down. It was the Baptist preacher that started grumbling and complaining first. Traveling in that desert without food and water would make one wonder if Moses had led them to the desert to die--the environment shaped the people. Experiencing the environment of the area goes a long way towards understanding.

Over the next couple of weeks I will try to share more thoughts about why I was chosen.

Grace&Peace,
Tom