I have confessed to a few people, that when the opportunity first came up to go to Israel, my reaction was excitement to take a '2 week vacation' and just enjoy being in a place I have never been before.
Oh, how God has been working on my heart since that time....
So, in the cheesiest fashion possible, I offer you:
Keith's Top 5 Reasons He Is Excited To Journey To The Holy Land
1. The Promised Land: When we step off the plane in Tel Aviv on June 24, we will be setting foot into the 'land flowing with milk and honey' that God promised to his people in the Old Testament. It is a land God had said would provide for their every need, and it is a land that he set apart to be holy, and that when people think and speak of it, they would know His presence!
2. Dusty Feet: I have heard over and over again, that to be a disciple back in Jesus day, meant that you literally would walk 'in the dust of the rabbi'. As they walked single file, the teacher would kick up dust, that his followers would walk through. We get to walk those same paths. We get to end our day with dirty, dusty feet. And Jesus sacrifice of washing his disciples feet will take on a whole new meaning.
3. Via Dolorosa: Especially just coming out of Holy Week, I have a hard time even wrapping my mind around the fact that in a few short months I will walk the path that Jesus walked to take my sin upon a cross. It is one thing for me to know that truth in my heart, but to now experience and praise God for each step that he took in a physical way - tears already starting to flow!
4. Parables: So many of Jesus' words to us in the Bible were given through parables. And the fact that those parables so often were referencing something they were looking at, or a place they were journeying through, creates a deep excitement in me to view those parables with 'new eyes'. Connecting God's teachings literally with heart, mind, and now eyes will be a powerful experience.
5. Miracles: Matthew 11:5 - "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor."
And we get the chance to see the places where those things happened! From where the walls of Jericho fell, from the valley where David defeated Goliath, to the stable where Jesus was born, to the hill on which he died, and to the tomb in which HE NO LONGER LAYS! All of these truths of our faith will become sight for me - and for that, I praise God.
So, like Bryce said, to put this journey into words is turning out to be far more difficult that I imagined. What was once a "get-a-way", God has revealed is about to become an amazing 'faith-growing' experience. Not only that, but to do it with people whom I have come to love and care deeply for, will help to make it all the more special as we grow together!
Keith is the Director of Discipleship at Faith Reformed Church in Rock Valley.
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