May the mumbling commence!
Isn’t it ironic when we get what we ask the Lord for and despise it? The same people who refused to challenge the people of the Promised Land and asked to die in the wilderness… these same people are complaining about being sent into the wilderness to die. What’s up with that? Read from Numbers chapter twenty-one:
Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient along the way, and they began to murmur against God and Moses. "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?" they complained. "There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this wretched manna!"
So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among them, and many of them were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, "We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes." So Moses prayed for the people.
Then the Lord told him, "Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to the top of a pole. Those who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!" So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to the top of a pole. Whenever those who were bitten looked at the bronze snake, they recovered! (Verses 4-9)
Yes, there it is again. Be careful what you ask for… you just might get it (and regret it). They complained.
But, before we get too judgmental with them, we are no different. We, too, complain when we don’t get things are own way… when things seem much harder than we anticipated them to be. We ask for the difficult places to be removed, but that is not often possible.
We ask for the snakes to be removed, only to hear the Lord tell us to look up to Him. Look up to Jesus who was raised up on the cross. Look up to Jesus who rose from the dead. Look to Jesus who ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God. That alone is enough to overcome any difficulty or obstacle.
And let’s not get too caught up in the sins of other people. We have enough sin in ourselves to busy ourselves. Read from Luke chapter five:
Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax-collection booth. "Come, be my disciple!" Jesus said to him. So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
Soon Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi's fellow tax collectors and other guests were there. But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus' disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with such scum?"
Jesus answered them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think they are already good enough." (Verses 27-32)
Though Levi would have been considered a terrible sinner as a tax collector, he knew enough to answer the call of Jesus to follow. He knew enough to look to Jesus and be healed by the Great Physician. He knew enough to guide his friends to Jesus at a banquet… his friends who were equally sinners (or “scum” as the New Living Translation puts it).
And, guess what! The Pharisees and teacher of the Law complain. Not much changes over time. Yep, we’re still struggling with those issues today. Though they may change of surface levels, we still set apart certain sins as more reprehensible than others.
And it’s amazing how these reprehensible sins do not affect us. It is comforting to point out the sins of others so we can feel better about ourselves… so we can avoid looking too closely in the mirror. We can even begin to think that we’ve arrived… that we are good enough. That is a lie that we cannot afford to be telling ourselves. Let us look to Jesus to be healed.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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