Today's Reading:Old Testament: Numbers 13 - 14
New Testament: Acts 13
Focus Verses: Numbers 13:26-33
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."
Insight:All of the spies Moses had sent to scout out Canaan agreed that the land was good -- flowing with milk and honey. All of the spies saw that the inhabitants of the land were powerful and that conquering them would be very difficult. Because Caleb and Joshua saw themselves in the light of God's promises and power, they believed the land could be taken. The other ten could only see their own weaknesses and fears and therefore became "like grasshoppers" in their own eyes.
Response and Action:
Life is filled with challenges and opportunities that I am unable to face in my own strength. If I fail to remember God's promises and strength, I become a grasshopper in my own eyes. To forget God is to diminish my life and to miss great opportunity and blessing. I must hold every possibility, choice, and potential up to the light of God's promise and call for my life. With God, all things are possible.
Almighty God, I am painfully aware of my weaknesses and limitations. Make me even more aware of your strength and boundless grace. Help me to lean on you in every circumstance and believe in your power to sustain and support me. Guide me and give me courage to do whatever is necessary to follow your leading. Amen.
Proverbs: 11:6
"The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires."
Resources:
Strength for the Journey: Day-by-Day with Jesus
by Joseph Stowell
