Stephen De La Vega

  Some countries have already celebrated Thanksgiving this year. My country will celebrate next week. It’s a time of looking back with family or friends to acknowledge our blessings (or harvest, historically). But it’s not always a positive reflection. Sometimes there’s baggage. Maybe often. Sometimes it’s our baggage or our shortcomings. We might even feel like walking away from God. Or maybe we already have. If we carry this into Thanksgiving week, or just in life, this Resolution 11 is for us.   We began our “ Journey to Resolve ” in July 2024. (Sorry it’s taking so long to cover all 15 resolutions!) The articles in this series have been New Year’s resolutions throughout the year, not just at the beginning. So far, we’ve enjoyed some very brief book surveys and stories that highlight important parts of Israel’s history. And our last two resolutions were drawn from two books of poetry and wisdom: Job and Proverbs. We circle back now to a sweeping look at Israel’s history...

  How are we doing with our first resolution:  I will worship God alone ? That resolution was from  Exodus 20:24 . In  Exodus 20 , the Israelites promised to worship only God. They did that for a while until their faith leader Moses was gone too long. Then they crafted and worshiped a golden calf instead. A statue. They were too comfortable worshiping in the manner of their captors, the Egyptians, from whom God rescued them. After they misplaced their allegiance onto the statue, they quickly slipped into feasting and carousing – carousing in ways that dishonored the true God. This felt more familiar to them. Worshiping the true God was a promise that quickly faded from their hearts. They had resolved to worship God and only God, but the reality of His presence was not a present reality in their hearts.     Yet God was present.   ****  Click to tweet  ****   Is the reality of   God's presence   a present reality   in our he...