Use your imagination or follow the crowd

 Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I attempt to read the Bible with fresh eyes, as if I don't know anything about it, and without consulting experts on what it "really" means.. Let's see where this takes us! 

Deuteronomy 29

I'm reading Young's Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

This section (NRSV) tells the story [emphasis added].

2 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 3 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. 5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness. The clothes on your back have not worn out, and the sandals on your feet have not worn out; 6 you have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink—so that you may know that I am the Lord your God. 7 When you came to this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out against us for battle, but we defeated them.

When we are at the doorstep of success in the material world, it's easy to forget all the fortunate events that led us there. And it is faith in the LORD/Jehovah alone, faith in our highest consciousness, faith in our imagination, that led to the "signs" and "great wonders," of clothes that did not wear out, of surviving on an unconventional diet. 

What is the alternative to one's higher self or imagination? The "gods" of "other nations." The seemingly powerful forces of the planet or sensory world. Faith in reason is really superstition because things aren't really what they seem.

To follow "worldly" ways, to follow the crowd (of which "other nations" is a metaphor) is the path to destruction. Only through your connection to your highest self, your imagination, can you be blessed. Everything else is a gamble at best.

Idols, even if they represent forces of nature, are powerless. The forces of nature themselves come and go. Other human beings have no right to exercise authority over you, and you have no reason to bow down before them. There's no other God but your own higher power, or imagination.

If the LORD could be understood as the imagination of Moses (as it was the imagination of Joseph, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham), then the journey from slavery to Moab, and all that transpired, was the product of imagination.

I'm sure that whenever we are dissatisfied with life, we can escape that feeling of bondage and get to a better place through our imagination.

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: TyshkunVictor)