It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. – Deuteronomy 13:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 12, 2012): Deuteronomy 13

There is a scene in George R. R. Martin’s “A Clash of Kings” where one of the characters takes a journey into a house of the eternal - or ancient - wise. The instructions were simple. Always take the first door on the right and always go up stairs – never down stairs. Also, remember that your purpose is to find and talk to the wise eternal inhabitants of the house, so talk to no one else.

And so Daenerys Targaryen begins her journey. Early on it seems easy. Some of the doors are open, but she tries her best to ignore the scenes displayed within. Still, she is confronted with scenes ripped out her own memory. She sees friends and relatives, now long dead. But still she finds the courage to move on. Sometimes she has to remind herself that the last door on the left can also be the first door on the right. And she moves forward. Once she finds a guide that will show her a short cut by taking a door on the left, but still she chooses the door on the right. Finally she finds herself standing in a room with a group of well dressed people who tell her that they have been waiting for her for a thousand years. They are the wise, and they have seen the day that she would come to them - and they are ready to help. It is exactly what Daenerys dreamed that the ancient ones would say. Finally she has achieved her goal. There is a sense of exhilaration - until she notices the door on the right.

Israel throughout their history would fight the temptation of listening to the gods of other nations instead of the God who had called them out of Egypt to be his own people. Often the gods would whisper in their ears words that they wanted to hear – offering the things that Israel felt they needed – and often offered at a very high price. And it takes a level of courage to turn down the promise of what you want when it is offered to you so that you can make the choice for what is right. It is a choice that we all have to make at some point in our lives.

Wisdom is being able to choose what is right in the face of being offered a short cut to our dreams. But in the end, choosing to do what is right is the decision that will set us up well for the future. For us, it means choosing God when it would be easier to choose something else. In the world of Daenerys, that meant turning her back on the dream that was being offered, and picking the right door one more time.

   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 14