Devotional - March 10, 2004

The people were tiring of following God. One night in fact, Scripture says all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. I wish I could say they were broken and contrite in spirit, but sadly, their cries were in anger. They were discontent with contempt against Moses, Aaron and God himself if they had been honest enough to admit it. (Numbers 14:1)

What was so alarming that they would expose such a vile and wicked spirit against God and their leaders? Amazingly, it was hearing the testimony of witnesses who for forty days had spied out the Promised Land. Was the land flowing with milk and honey? Yes. Was it a beautiful land? Yes. Did God say it was theirs? Yes. Was Moses ready to lead them into the land? Yes. Then, what on earth was wrong with them?

Sin. Isn't that always the case? They expected things to be different. They endured hardship in order to have it "made in the shade" when they got home. Each man woman and child had his or her own idea as to what to expect. But when their expectation proved to be disappointing, they turned on anyone in authority to blame them for their sin of misinterpretation of God's Word and wrongful expectation.

You would have thought there were enough Levites to turn back the firestorm of discontent. Surely, there were some godly people who would believe God's promise as superior to their own fear and dread. I guess not! The people drew a line in the sand and said "Enough! We'll elect our own leaders to take us back to captivity in Egypt."

Was there anyone righteous in the Israelite camp beside Joshua and Caleb? The fact was that neither of them were righteous any more than the complainers and dissenters in the camp. But both men, like Moses, had faith in a Righteous God to keep his promise and were not disappointed with God's expectation of them.

Isn't that the way it is when God looks at us as a Christian. He doesn't see our righteousness but sees us as imputed with the Righteousness of the Lord Jesus. We are righteous but because Jesus Christ is Righteous, His righteousness can make us righteous.

The next time you think you're too bad for God to love, understand that God's love is greater than any sin you can commit. But also remember we are never good in God's eyes. Our ability to maintain sinless perfection is less than one milli-second in duration. That's about the time it take to blink or think. Aren't you glad that our salvation is secured by God's Righteousness and not our goodness?