I have long been intrigued by the story of the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Not a place that I wouwant to spend an extended period of time at all. The reason why they had to stay there was that they took their eyes of of God.
There are consequences to doing things against what God says or the way He directs. That was true for the Children of Israel. It is true for us. Think about it.
Numbers 32:10-13 nlt
Then the Lord was very angry with them, and he vowed,'Of all those I rescued from Egypt, no one who is twenty years old or older will ever see the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they have not obeyed me wholeheartedly. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholeheartedly followed the Lord.' "The Lord was angry with Israel and made them wander in the wilderness for forty years until the entire generation that sinned in the Lord's sight had died.
What a huge price these people paid when they were rebelled against God's plans. Only a couple of the people, Caleb and Joshua, would get to see the promised land. Why is that?
They were part of the team that went to look at the promised land. They were the only two who believed what God said. The other 10 said that the battle was too big, the problems would be main, and that is just isn't possible. 2 out of 12 said God is able. 10 said not even God can do that.
God rewards these two men because of their faith. God will do the same for us. We have choices to make. We can chose blessing or negative consequences. We are not puppets who only do what God dictates we do. We've been given the ability to make choices that will benefit us and others or choices that will cut and cost us and others.
That is the situation that the people of God are in. I have been there. So have you. It is kind of like looking over the proverbial fence and dreaming about what life could be or realizing that God has called you to step forward. You either do or you don't. It is time to make a choice.
I chose to be courageous and watch the blessings that God is going to bring. I don't chose the consequences of doing my own thing a part from God. What are you going to do as you look over the fence?
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