Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Deuteronomy 1-2

Highlight Verses:

“Give these orders to the people: “You will pass through the country belonging to your relatives the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. The Edomites will feel threatened, so be careful. Do not bother them, for I have given them all the hill country around Mount Seir as their property, and I will not give you even one square foot of their land.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

As Deuteronomy takes us through a review of Israel’s journey to the Promised Land, it gives us a chance to notice things we may have missed before.

One of those things is integrity.

Yes, I know the people of Israel messed up on a lot of things, but one positive thing they did shows up a few times including in today’s highlight verse.

They kept their word to other peoples.

They even kept their ancestor’s word.

Jacob had agreed to have peaceful relations with Esau’s people. (Genesis 33)

God instructed Moses to honor that agreement.

Moses commanded the Israelites to comply.

They did.

Simple as that.

Sometimes practicing integrity is as simple. Do what you said you would do.

Sometimes it is a little more complex. Doing the right things when every voice around you, including that little imaginary devil on your shoulder is saying, “no one will know and it’s so much easier this other way.”

Integrity involves being the same person in private that you appear to be in public.

A person of integrity is someone who can be trusted.

It’s not always easy, but it is always worth it.

Have you had to make some tough decisions to keep your integrity?
Have there been times when your integrity lapsed? (Most of us will have to answer yes if we’re honest.) How did you recover?