I'm having one of those days today. It's been quiet and uneventful. A day when I could eat. And eat. And eat. But I have been praying each morning and throughout the day that by the power of the Holy Spirit I would be able to say no and to resist that temptation and to instead be filled by His Word and to walk in step with Him. He has met me here so far. His best is what will satisfy and right now in this moment I am determined to know what that is.
I wonder if the Israelites had that same determination. As they roamed through the wilderness defeating enemies all over the place were they wondering exactly what that promised land would look like? What the landscape might be? The types of foods they would come to know? If they would know God in a different way once they arrived?
This morning in my quiet time I read Numbers 32 and was struck by a decision made by some of them...
"Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, 'Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land that the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.' And they said, 'If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.' "
Numbers 32:1-5
So, they have been freed from captivity in Egypt, have seen thousands of people struck down by plagues, have conquered armies without losing a single soldier, and as they approach the promised land they are going to stop short!?
Moses and Aaron and other leaders agree that if these people help the rest of the Israelites arrive safely in the land they are moving toward, they may return to this livestock haven.
This may have been exactly where God wanted these tribes to end up. It doesn't say otherwise in the chapters I read today. But what if it wasn't suppose to be the end of their road? "The promised land" is the place God instructed Moses to take His people. And it made me wonder...
How often do I stop where it's good enough when I am so close to what's best?
How many times have I missed out on God's blessing and work in my life because I didn't take that one last step? How many times has someone else had a delayed blessing from God because I stopped short?
I think about this in the temptation to eat today. How many times I've chosen to give in, to start over tomorrow. I think about how each time it drags me away from Him and into a nasty pit I've climbed out of over and over.
And I wonder, in how many of those times was I just about to reach the promised land? Learn something new? Find a deeper identity in Christ? Understand more of God's character? See him at work in the life of someone around me?
I know God doesn't stop working when I sin. But when I separate myself from Him, it becomes so hard to see Him at work and I can't hear Him leading.
So I'm thankful that today I can cling to this and know that God is working in this heart and mind. That today I can walk with Him and follow where He leads. And that each time I dig in to where His Spirit dwells He fills another empty space and I find myself satisfied in Him.
Lord, thank you for meeting me here today. For empowering me through your Holy Spirit to resist temptation and to cling to what is good. May you do the same in all who struggle with this battle today. Thank you for your victory...
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