Numbers 26:64-65 ~ Devotion

⁶⁴ Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. ⁶⁵ For the Lord had told those Israelites they would surely die in the desert, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.  (Numbers 26:64-65; NIV)

 

Have you ever had to bear the consequences of your actions?  I remember when I was growing up, I was told that I couldn’t hang out with a friend of mine.  Instead of listening to my parents, I jumped on my 10-speed bike, rode it on a dirt trail through a nearby woods, so that I could meet up with my friend.  I was hoping to outsmart and fool my parents into thinking I was obeying them, when I wasn’t.  Needless to say, my plan didn’t quite work out – evidently when you are gone for a while, your parents tend to notice.  So, my foolish actions led to some consequences.

 

Normally, consequences are difficult to bear.  We don’t like having to suffer the consequences of our actions.  At the same time, they are beneficial, and not just for the discipline they impart.  Take, for example, the Israelites here in Numbers 26.  Forty years earlier, they had disobeyed God and showed a complete lack of trust in God.  As a results of their sins, God had them wander in the wilderness for 40 years, during which he had all the people who were twenty and older when leaving Egypt die.  Tough consequences to bear. 

 

But also beneficial to the Israelites.  They saw God’s faithfulness.  When God spoke to the Israelites, they knew he would be faithful, both in the blessing and in consequences.  It was a way for the people to have a renewed faith and trust in God.  The Israelites also saw God’s goodness as at the end of the 40 years, the Israelites found themselves in much the same situation they had a generation earlier.  Sitting on the border of the land God had promised.

 

Or, take me, for example.  My parent’s faithfulness taught me that when they said something, they meant it, whether “it” was a specific consequence for my actions, or an assurance that they loved me and would be there for me. 

 

God is still faithful today.  He still hates sin and the sinner.  He still promises to punish those who die in sin.  God is faithful, he keeps his word.  Which is also a reason that we too have a renewed faith and trust in God.  God still promises that through faith in Christ, sins are forgiven.  He still promises a deep and unending love for those who have been made his children through faith.  He still promises to reward those who die in Christ with an eternal inheritance in heaven.  God’s faithfulness points us to God’s goodness.

 

It can be easy to overlook God’s faithfulness to us.  May God continue to strengthen your faith and trust in him as you see and rejoice in God’s faithfulness and goodness in your life.

 

 

Dear Jesus, you are my help and my strength, my love and my forgiveness. You do for me what nobody else can do, helping me out of the pit that I often dig for myself, helping me with your grace, mercy, and power. Strengthen my faith in you to deliver me from trouble and sin better than any security or pleasure on this earth. And help me to then help others, that they too might enjoy your saving love. Amen.

 

 

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Today’s Light Bible reading:  Numbers 26-27

 

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