“Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.” Jeremiah 48:10-11
The people of Moab who were descendants of Lot, had put themselves in an isolated place far from the Children of Israel. They were free from trouble and consequently remained unchanged from year to year. “If it felt good, do it.” was their motto, and this was not pleasing to God. There was no purifying, no decanting, and no pouring out from vessel to vessel and the dregs remained in their wine, so to speak. Moab’s isolation made him untouched and unchanged and we can be like this too if we keep away from those who can speak into our lives. When you are isolated you can be deceived into thinking you are fine when we are not. God in His mercy will sometimes force change upon us, and in this case, Moab was sent into exile where he had to change.
God always wants us to change so that we might become like His Son. It’s a process, a pouring out, a stepping out of our ‘comfort zones’ and getting out of our boats time and time again. Each time we do, dregs are left behind. It’s like the separation of chaff from the wheat or the purifying of dross from gold. God would like us to do this voluntarily rather than it be forced upon us.
Have you ever shifted house from one country to another? It’s a very stressful operation and its expensive to take all your excess stuff with you. It’s amazing how much junk we accumulate over the years, and when you make a shift like this you end up discarding so much stuff. It’s like the dregs in Moab’s vessels that would have been eradicated if they had allowed himself to be poured out.
You may never leave the house you were born in, but you still can be poured out for God. You can be poured out when you make shifts in your thinking or give extravagantly so that there is not much stuff left behind. Come away from that which is familiar, get out of your comfort zone and be poured out.
I think that we have lost the PILGRIM MENTALITY that our Christian fore fathers had. We are not living for eternity anymore and have made this earth our home. We are meant to be just passing through but have become settlers and not strangers in the earth.
“These men of faith I have mentioned died without ever receiving all that God had promised them; but they saw it all awaiting them on ahead and were glad, for they agreed that this earth was not their real home but that they were just strangers visiting down here. 14 And quite obviously when they talked like that, they were looking forward to their real home in heaven. If they had wanted to, they could have gone back to the good things of this world. 16 But they didn’t want to. They were living for heaven. And now God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has made a heavenly city for them. Hebrews 11:13-16
When Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians they stayed in a far away country for over 70 years. After this time they were allowed to return and establish their beloved city and religion in the Promised Land once more. Many of those who were in Babylon didn’t return, as they had become successful in this far off land. They had lost their vision, their mission, their purpose and reason for existence and we can do the same if we are not careful.
There was a man who thought that he could take all his money with him to heaven, so he stored it all in the attic instead of in a bank, with the view that as he goes up he’ll grab it on the way out. One day he died so his wife went up to the attic to see if the money had gone. It was still there, so she thought; “I told him he should have left it in the basement.” You may laugh, but the way we hoard stuff now days you would think that we have the same crazy attitude. We can’t take anything with us when we ‘graduate’.
There have been so many disasters around the world lately that have wiped out people’s homes. These poor folk have lost everything they had worked all their lives for, and it’s all gone in an instant. You can’t tell me there were no Christians among them? It’s a stark reminder of the frailty of life. If we can’t take anything with us when we go then we should be doing more to bless others with our money, possessions, time and talents while we still have the chance.
Remember you are a pilgrim here on earth, don’t be like Moab who refused to be poured out.