If Only…
Psalm 81
Three times a year Jewish men and their families were expected to appear ‘before’ the Lord in Jerusalem at one of the major worship gatherings. One of those festivals commemorated the years God’s people wandered in the wilderness wandering in tents. Once settled in the land, God’s people built homes, created villages, established trading routes, and other necessary structures for community life. Reverting back to tents for a few days each year was to recall the transitory nature of life, the feeling of dependence on God, and the sense of community created by close living quarters.
Re-enacting this decades long experience in just a few days, however, was more often than not a reminder of failure. How many times did God’s people drift from their allegiance to Him as they wandered? An entire generation of adults died in those 40 years because of one massively wrong decision.
As God’s people would gather for the Feast of Tabernacles one can almost hear God say, as the psalmist suggests… “If only my people would obey me! If only Israel would keep my commands!” (Psalm 81:13, NET).
If only…. What might our lives have been like ‘if only’ we had made different choices? Where would be living ‘if only’ we’d chosen another path? Though we all have regrets about past choices, God’s promise is for today. If only we obey Him today, our enemy would be subdued, our adversaries would be cowering in fear, and we would experience fullness instead of the gnawing sense of emptiness that often characterizes our lives.
If only…
We cannot change the past, but we can determine our direction for today.