January 3, 2025

Passage Read: Numbers 12-15
Meditation Verse: 14:31

Thought

The adults used their children as an excused not to trust and obey Him and follow Him into taking the land. They were afraid of the Anakim more than they trusted in the Lord. So they were more sure that they would die trying to take Canaan than that the Lord could bring them in as He promised. Despite all the miracles the Lord had done in their sight, they thought He wasn't powerful enough to help them overcome giants and fortified cities. So they rejected the Lord and rejected the good land He had promised them, and He promised to bring their children into the land they rejected.

Application

It is on us to choose whether to believe, trust and obey the Lord. If we do not, God counts it as rejection: rejection of Him and rejection of the good promise He made to us. Like with the Gospel. When someone hears the Gospel, it comes with the promise of eternal life. When someone hears the Gospel and rejects it, they are not merely rejecting God, but also the promise He extends. Thankfully, it is not an automatic curse against his children. They can yet hear and believe. It is, perhaps, on this basis that Jesus instructs and Paul exemplifies walking away from a person or community that rejects the Gospel: They have rejected salvation and the Lord who offers it. They consider themselves unworthy of eternal life. The blame and responsibility are not on the Lord or the messenger, but on the one who refuses to believe. But their children still have hope. It is not my fault if people refuse to believe, as long as I give a clear and complete Gospel. And they have not rejected me, but the Lord and His offer of forgiveness and eternal life.