Wednesday Reading: Numbers 21:4-9
Key Verse: Numbers 21:5
5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water. And our soul hates this light bread.
Devotion:
Can you imagine only having one source of food for most of your life. Lets pick potatoes for an example. Pretty soon we would be a bit sick of potatoes even though they can be cooked in so many different ways and make so many different things. We would also find that we would become deficient in many vitamins and minerals so would not last beyond several weeks. But what God was giving to the children of Israel as they journey round Edom was totally sustaining in every way. How else could they survive for so many years... But still they grew weary of having the same food day in day out. We would look at that now and say, but that's only human...
Key Verse: Numbers 21:5
5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water. And our soul hates this light bread.
Devotion:
Can you imagine only having one source of food for most of your life. Lets pick potatoes for an example. Pretty soon we would be a bit sick of potatoes even though they can be cooked in so many different ways and make so many different things. We would also find that we would become deficient in many vitamins and minerals so would not last beyond several weeks. But what God was giving to the children of Israel as they journey round Edom was totally sustaining in every way. How else could they survive for so many years... But still they grew weary of having the same food day in day out. We would look at that now and say, but that's only human...
That is the problem, it's the human way of looking at it. If we looked at it from God's point of view, He was providing a perfect meal, every meal, without charge for years! God just wanted them to realise that they could and should rely on Him for everything, always. But Israel showed that they were “human” and spoke out against the very hand that was sustaining them because of their desire to have other things in their lives.
The serpents that came into the camp are a perfect picture of how we let sin into our lives. We let it destroy us. We try to fight it ourselves and find we cannot because of our own weaknesses. We need God to help us defeat our own weaknesses. The bronze serpent held up on a pole was a perfect example of what Jesus would become many years later. All they had to do was to look up at the serpent... just look at it! We have an equally simple solution in our lives. All we have to do is believe on one simple thing, that Jesus is the Son of God, and we will be saved from our sins. Yet so many of us just don't make that choice.
What do we have to loose? Nothing... But, we do have everything to gain!
Points to Ponder:
What “serpents” do you allow into your life?
How often do you turn to God for help?
What “serpents” do you allow into your life?
How often do you turn to God for help?