How did God take a group of refugees and build them into the strongest nation on earth? Can we learn things from this that can help us in developing nations to see community development established?
God begins this journey with the nation of Israel after they have left slavery in Egypt. As they are in the wilderness, they have nothing! No government, no infrastructure, no religious system, nothing!
As you read the books of Moses, it is interesting to see that God deals with their spiritual lives but also the “secular” parts of life. He deals with government in Exodus and Deuteronomy, health care in Leviticus, and legal issues in Numbers to name a few.
An illustration of this is in Deuteronomy 20:!9-20. God tells them that when they attack a city, not to cut down the fruit trees! Why? Does God really care that much about fruit trees? He is helping them plan for the future. It would be easier to go straight in and take the city, but by keeping the food source it helps them with city planning in the future! If these fruit trees remain they will serve them for many years.
Nehemiah is a great example of a leader concerned with the spiritual well-being of the people as well as the infrastructure of his nation. As he rebuilds the wall, he is dealing in issues of government, defense, and commerce. All of these took place at the walls of a city. For Nehemiah, rebuilding these aspects of a community are just as spiritual as worship and prayer.
We see that God cares about these things and has principles that we can adapt to 21st century situations in all areas of life and society. All of life is spiritual to God, there is no “secular”.
Application
- Take the passage in Deuteronomy about not cutting down fruit trees. What things could be different if nations planned ahead like this? What could be different in your own family or personal life?
- What jobs to do we view as “secular” How do we need to change our thinking in these areas?
Let the dialogue begin!
This post is one in a series of devotionals which were published in La Biblia Del Discipulo (The Discipleship Bible), which is a Spanish language Bible. For more information on the Bible, please visit : http://www.bibliadeldiscipulo.com.
The E-Version is also available for IPads or mobile devices. Copyright 2011.