December 8, 2025 WEST

What does it look like when we take spiritual responsibility for the land we inhabit? Today's reading from Deuteronomy 21 confronts us with an ancient ritual that seems foreign at first—breaking a heifer's neck in an unplowed valley with a stream running through it to atone for an unsolved murder. Yet within this mysterious practice lies a powerful truth: innocent blood defiles the land, and the priesthood bears responsibility for cleansing it. We're challenged to see ourselves as that priesthood today, called to publicly repent for the crimes plaguing our communities—especially the epidemic of missing children. The story of Esther reminds us that God positions people in impossible circumstances, isolating and preparing them through seasons that feel like trafficking and loss, yet ultimately using them to save nations. Her twelve months of beauty treatments weren't spa days—they were anointing for assignment, oils before the calling. And throughout it all, Psalm 150 rings out with the solution: praise Him in the sanctuary and in creation, praise Him for His mighty acts, praise Him with every instrument and with dance. When we stop complaining and start praising, when we take territorial responsibility for the darkness around us instead of retreating behind church walls, we position ourselves for breakthrough. The question isn't whether God will move—it's whether we'll step into our priestly calling to cleanse the land through repentance, discernment, and relentless praise.