Numbers 9 – Unquestioning Obedience

When I was a child, “because I said so” never felt like a good reason to comply. That’s because there’s something in us that resists being told what to do. We would rather give the orders, than take them.

But that’s not the message of Numbers chapter 9. There, you find a picture of immediate and unquestioning obedience. When the cloud moved, the people moved; no questions asked.

Can you imagine what that would be like? You hear a knock on your door. You open the door and see a man with a clipboard who says, “It’s time.” So you pack up your entire household and set out. Twelve hours later, you pull in somewhere at the man’s direction. It appears you’ve arrived, so you unpack and set up house.

After a week or so, you’ve finally settled in and have things where you can find them. Then one Saturday morning, there’s a knock on your door. You open the door and see the same man with the same clip board who tells you, “It’s time.” So once again, you begin to pack things up and load them in the truck.

This routine continues…for the rest of your life! Sometimes you get to stay for a long time, and sometimes you just get to stay for the night. And you never know when you’re going to hear the knock on the door and face the man with the clip board saying, “It’s time.”

Can you imagine the obedience this would take? I’d like to say my life is characterized by such obedience, but I know better.

The key to such obedience is becoming convinced that obeying God…because He said so…is more beneficial that anything else you can do. (Deut. 6:3) When you become convinced of this, “because I said so,” will be enough for you.

What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House – One More Thing

Are you a flaw finder? Do you focus more on what’s wrong than what’s right? Do you point out problems more than pinpoint positives?

Last week I posted what I thought would be my last post in the “What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House” series. We’ve been in the house for about 4 weeks and I just figured that ship had sailed. But as we’ve settled in, there’s been one more lesson that continues to come up.

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What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House – Part 8

Well, we’re in our new house! Not everything is put away yet, but it’s livable and we can get both cars in the garage! So, I’ll close this series with one final lesson I’ve learned from this experience. What I’ve learned about marriage from buying a house is that it’s easy to let routine take over your marriage.

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What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House – Part 7

Finally! All our stuff was packed. It was all on a truck, or jammed into a car. So I went back into the house and took a final look around.

I walked through the empty rooms that had been home for twenty years. The walls were dotted with nail holes and tattooed with marks here and there. There were hash marks on a door frame that chronicled a child’s life one inch at a time. It all told a story, like primitive paintings on a cave wall. The rooms were empty, but they were full of memories.

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What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House – Part 6

“You have to be patient.” I didn’t like hearing that advice as a child and I’m not a big fan of it as an adult. It’s difficult to be patient. If you don’t believe it, check out the video The Marshmallow Experiment.

We’re one week away from moving into a new house. We still have some packing to do, but we’re so close it’s hard to be patient. There are things we want to do, but we can’t because we’re not there yet. We have to be patient.

What I’ve learned about marriage from buying a house is there are times in marriage when you know what you want, but you’re not there yet and you have to be patient. For example…

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What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House – Part 5

“You’re not done yet.” This is what I’ve been telling myself lately. We’re very close to moving into a new home, and I’m sure some of you are tired of hearing this continuing saga. I’m with you. I’m tired of living it. Still, this experience keeps teaching me things about about marriage…especially this week.

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What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House – Part 4

Let me just cut to the chase here. One of the things I’ve learned from this house buying experience is that if you want to get from the house you have to the house you want…it’s going to cost you.

Certainly there’s the cost of the new mortgage, but there’s also expenses like fees, repairs to your current house, appliances for the new house, and moving expenses. Then there’s the amount of time and energy you have to spend. All this can easily cause you to loose site of the ultimate goal…to get to a better place.

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What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House – Part 3

Have you ever had a total stranger hand you a list of things they believed needed to be changed about something really personal to you? That’s what a home inspection list is.

I niavely thought it would be smooth sailing after the contract was signed. After all, we had a buyer who wanted the house enough to sign a contract. “We’re there!” I thought. But there was more for me to learn.

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What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House – Part 2

 

Remember the first time you saw your spouse’s eyes light up? Maybe it was the first time you gave them a special gift or picked them up unexpectedly. Maybe it was when you got engaged or when you saw each other on your wedding day. Maybe it was the first holiday you spent together. Maybe it was when you found out you were having a baby or when you got your first glimpse of that baby.

Now, when’s the last time you saw your spouse’s eye light up? If it’s been a while, maybe you should ask yourself why it’s been that long.

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What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House – Part 1

My wife and I are in the process of selling our current house and buying a new one. (It’s a big deal to us since it’s probably the last house we’ll own before our kids put us in the nursing home.) It’s a daunting process. Since we’ve been in our current house for twenty years, the process of selling it and buying another feels a little overwhelming.

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