Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the Lord spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days. And the Lord spake unto me, saying, Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. – Deuteronomy 2:1-3
When I was a teenager, I used to drive over to Santa Cruz with some of the young people from our church in Sacramento. There was a boardwalk in Santa Cruz with many shops and rides, and it was a fun place to go with friends. On one of the rides, they strapped you into a seat and all you did was spin around really fast. I did not care for that ride; I went on it just to go along with the others. However, I did not feel well afterward. Going around and around and around was not good for my equilibrium and it left me feeling ill!
Spiritually speaking, we do not want to go around in circles. It does not matter if everyone else seems to be doing it, or if the place where we are is a good place. We need to be making progress in our walk with the Lord and moving in the direction that He has indicated for us.
In our focus verse, God told the Children of Israel that they had been going around the mountain long enough. They were at Mount Sinai, where God had given them the Law through Moses, and they had stayed there for about a year. Even though it was a sacred place where God had come down from Heaven and they had seen His presence on the mountain, the plan was not for them to be on that mountain forever. The time had come for them to move on from that place—to go on into the Promised Land.
God has given us many promises in His Word, but action is required on our part to obtain those promises. There is something we must do. We have to go in and possess the land! Today, what promises of God still need to be fulfilled in your life? Have you been circling the same ground for a while, enjoying your experience of salvation, but failing to press forward and receive your sanctification? Do you need to go forward and receive the promised power of the Holy Ghost?
God has given us promises; now it is up to us to stop compassing the mountain, and go forward to possess it! We can all step forward and make progress today!