Consequences

There are times when the consequences of my choices are very hard to take. I don’t always calculate properly the “fall out” from a decision I make. More often than not if I make a decision in haste, I will miscalculate the consequences. I know of people who repented and were forgiven of sin, but the consequences are real for the rest of their lives. Sometimes the choices I make today have life-long implications.

The people of Israel faced one of those life-altering decisions. The 12 men who went in to explore the land came back to report. I remember a simple song I learned in camp years ago about these men.

Twelve men went to spy on Canaan

            10 were bad and 2 were good

            What did they see when they got to Canaan

            10 were bad and 2 were good

            Some saw giants big and tall

            Some saw grapes in clusters fall

            Some saw God was over all

            10 were bad and 2 were good

These men spent 40 days in the land exploring and yet they were paralyzed by fear that they couldn’t take the land. Their faith in God was weak beyond words. Only Caleb & Joshua felt differently. They believed that God could do anything.

When the people grumbled against the Lord, He was ready to punish them on the spot and Moses begged for their forgiveness. The Lord forgave, but the consequences of their blatant rebellion were still coming. Check this out…

20 The Lord replied, ‘I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times – 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. (Numbers 14:20-24 NIV)

I am inspired by Caleb & Joshua. I want to see the road ahead of me from God’s view point. I want to trust Him without fail. I want to act on what I say I believe. I want to trust the Lord radically with my everyday walking around decisions. I want to trust Him in the smallest detail or in the largest decision. I want to have a different spirit in me like Caleb and follow the Lord wholeheartedly. I can accept the consequences of my decisions to follow the Lord without worry. He’s got those covered too!

Pressing On!

Dwayne