Today you should read: Numbers 21:1-19
Look and Live
All of us have besetting sins… you know, the sins that we fight but often lose out to. It’s what Paul talks about in Romans 7:15…
I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
The answer to this is found only in yielding your life to the Holy Spirit. When you yield – you don’t sin – and when you take control of your life back, well things don’t go so well.
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. Galatians 5:16
The Israelites had besetting sins too… and one big one was complaining. They never seemed to be grateful for long. They needed an attitude of gratitude – but it seemed to elude them. They got discouraged on the journey (Numbers 21:4). Now before you jump to the jury and condemn – think of your own life. How often does your discouragement cause you to lose sight of the goal and drift?
But this time – God needed to show them that their sinful behavior was damaging. Sometimes He does this with us too… In this case, He sent fiery serpents into their camp. They bit the people and many people died.
The Israelites realized what God was saying, and they repented of their sin of complaining, speaking against God, and against God’s anointed servant. God’s solution was a foreshadowing of the cross that would come. God told Moses to make a snake out of brass and put it up on a pole. If anyone who was bitten would look to it – they would live. Look and live…
And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:14-17
Our healing, our restoration, our joy, our peace… and so much more come when we look to Christ. Have you lost sight of the cross? Focused on yourself and your problems today? Look and live…
By: Tim Parsons — Lead Pastor
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