Ahh, the good ol’ days. Isn’t it always fun to drift back to days past and daydream about the good times? I’ve learned something that’s funny about this process though. By and large, memories get better with time. The sweet gets sweeter, the love gets stronger and yes, even the bitter is no longer as bitter as it was when I first had to swallow it down. There’s just a mellowing with time. As a result, when we settle back and take a drive down memory lane, the scenery can seem quite different than in did when we originally drove it those many years ago.
Sometimes my mind takes me back to some of the sweet memories that Marge and I have shared. Those beautiful moments of love and peace that give me a glimpse of the love that God has for us. In hindsight those memories seem more special as time marches on. But on the flip side, if I’m forced to go back and relive some of the tougher moments we’ve had, they just don’t seem so bad. It seems that the passage of time can enhance the definition of the good while softening the edges of the bad. The first is good, but as we’ll see today, the latter can be quite dangerous for us if we’re living in the good ol’ days too much.
Numbers 14 today will bring us quickly back to familiar territory where we have camped out in recent studies. The Israelite people are unhappy, as a result they grumble and fight with their leaders Moses and Aaron and then God reacts to their grumbling. This is a vicious cycle that started when God parted the Red Sea and continues to…well continues to January 20, 2020. Even today we see this vicious cycle. The people of this planet stray far from God and reject Him and His Word by living in sin. As a result, God judges the people and brings hardships in an effort to draw them back. And then in a way to displace the blame, the people project their anger, point fingers and accuse the only people they can think of, their leaders. This pattern went on in 3000 BC and it still goes on daily in 2020 AD. Folks, humans today possess the same sin-filled hearts they did 4000 years ago and these hearts still lead in the same identical direction…away from God. There is nothing new under the sun.
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new.” It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.” Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
This time the Israelites are thirsty, they haven’t enough water for themselves and their livestock. This is a legitimate problem, but the question is, how do you solve real world problems in your life? The Israelites (reflections of us today) had a pattern. They would first complain, grumble and whine about their situation and then they would blame their leaders, Moses and Aaron, for their predicament. Now think about this carefully, when you whine and complain about something in your life you must have two points of comparison. You must have an “A” and “B” to choose from. Normally your current situation is undesirable to you so your mind reaches out to find a more desirable situation from memory. Consider the following example.
Marge and I left the tropical coastal city of Playa Del Carmen on Saturday and it was sunny, breezy and 82 degrees. The air temperature was as perfect as I have ever felt. The breeze seemed to caress your skin as it made its way past. The sun was gleaming off the turquoise Caribbean waters and it’s voice was clear in my ears. Don’t go. As we arrived back at DFW it was a chilly 45 degrees, no warm ocean breeze to be found. As a result, I had two clear points of comparison between my ears, the tropics of the Yucatan and DFW. My brain and my skin, complained and said, let’s go back to that warm, tropical exotic place. You see, to complain you have to have two reference points.
Now pull this all together, throw it in a mixing bowl and let’s whisk a while. In our lives we obviously have our current situation. Our day today sits directly in our path like a big towering boulder, it can’t be ignore. But as we search for a memory to compare with our present day, we have no choice but to go back. To dig deep into our memory banks and pull out something to compare to our current situation. And here is where that softening of the edges can quickly get us into trouble.
Now recall that the Israelites were in harsh, brutal slavery while in Egypt. In fact, 430 years of it. Hard, hot, physical daily routines of manual labor making bricks and building the kingdom of Pharaoh after Pharaoh. But as our minds can do, the time had softened the edges of even slavery. Not just once but numerous times the Israelites reached into their minds and pulled out good memories of Egyptian slavery. They have no water now, but they at least had dirty water in slavery. They only have manna now, but they had meat and vegetables in slavery. They have Moses and Aaron, men of God, leading them aimlessly around the desert now, but their slave masters at least had a plan in Egypt. You see if we’re not careful, the good ol’ days will deceive us greatly. Our days of bondage can speak to us through the years and tell us that it really wasn’t that bad.
You see, this is a tremendous picture for us. We all come from a background of slavery, in fact, some are still living in that slavery. Our slave master? Sin. We are all born sinners and we all sin. But you have a choice with your sin. You can embrace sin, reject Jesus and live in that sin. Folks, this is where most of our world lives today. Or…you can realize the bondage that sin has over you and you can reject that sin, embrace Jesus Christ and be freed. Only through the power of Jesus Christ can you be freed from the slavery of your sin. No matter the depths of your sin or the history of your sin, the power of the blood of Jesus can have you as free as a bird on an afternoon breeze. All you need to do is voice your desire to Jesus. Admit your sin and ask Jesus to save you from it. It’s just that simple, you need to do nothing more, Jesus has done it all and Jesus has paid it all.
But as you walk with Christ, you must be careful, the good ol’ days will be calling. That past life of sin will cry out to you and declare that “it wasn’t really that bad.” Those days of living in sin to sexual immorality, addiction, pride, materialism, hate, the love of money and pornography will at many times seem to be looking pretty good as time sandpapers at the edges of those memories. But walk firm in your faith of Jesus Christ, knowing that where He has you today is the absolute best place you can be. Your memory of the good ol’ days will try to trick you, but folks here is one absolute truth…
If you’re walking closely with Jesus today…today is the best day of your life.
Today is the good ol’ days.
If you’re living in bondage to your sin today, I pray you may finally shirk it’s chains and call upon the name of Jesus Christ to free you forever. In this freedom you will find true life.
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