The time comes when it’s necessary to pass the baton. You change jobs. You step aside from leading a ministry team. You walk your child into a kindergarten classroom. You retire.
Or even — as was true of Moses here — the time of your death draws near.
It’s never easy. The emotions are greatly mixed. You’ve run your leg of the race. So there’s joy, but also sadness. There is pride, but also fear. There is relief and anticipation, but also anxiety and trepidation.
In the midst of all this, the one thing that stands out above all is the hope and the peace that only God can give. And that’s the very thing to which Moses directs the eyes of the Israelites.
Their loving and powerful God!
As we move on to the next phase of our life, the anchor of our hope — for leader and follower, for teacher and student, for parent and child — is our gracious and merciful God. He is with us. He will go before us.
And he will do the same for those we love. Because he is their life, as he is our life.
Our journeys will go in different directions. But the same gracious God remains on both paths.
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land… (Deuteronomy 30:19 – 31:3, NIV).
Our Bible reading for Sunday, April 19, is Deuteronomy 30:11 – 31:29, Luke 19:11-44 and Psalm 48:1-8.
Lord Jesus, you are my life. And you are the life of those whom I feel responsible for. When it comes time for me to pass the baton, help me to do so with the same faith, hope, and love that Moses did. Guide all those I love even when I cannot be present with them. Guard their hearts and turn their minds back to you, their gracious Savior and their powerful Lord.
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pastorjeffgunn 
Our Bible reading for Sunday, April 19, is Deuteronomy 30:11 – 31:29, Luke 19:11-44 and Psalm 48:1-8.
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NIV)
Heavenly Father, you are life and you are everything with in me. You give so much to me and all those that I love. You keep your promises and give us hope. You show us discipline as we turn away from you, how easily we turn away from you. Father stay close with those I love. Help me to help others that need you. Help me teach and guide them with a loving hand and proper discipline. You are my god, God of all the heavens and the earth. Thank you for being so gracious to an undeserving son. Praise you Lord, praise your name forever.
Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. (Psalm 48:1 NIV)
~Paul Montenieri
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