#DailyDevotion What Can I Look To When I Sin?
Easter Week 7 Saturday
Read Num 20:22—21:9
Num 21:5-6 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” (6) Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died…8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” (9) So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
When the Lord said the Israelites were a hard headed, stiff-necked people, he wasn’t kidding. You might think having seen and heard all they have up to this point they would be a perfect people doing all the Lord had commanded them. But here we are again, the Israelites get impatient and start complaining against Moses and the Lord.
The Lord is angered against his people and sends fiery serpents to bite and kill the people. It must have gotten pretty bad because they repent of their actions and ask Moses to intercede for them. Moses does and the Lord does something interesting here. He does not remove the serpents. Instead he tells Moses to make a bronze serpent on a pole. When someone is bitten by a serpent, if they look at the bronze serpent they will live. That is exactly what happened.
Now we too are stick-necked and stubborn. We are sinful human beings. Jesus has said that he would be lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness. Everyone who looks to Jesus and believes on him will not die eternally. Their sins will be forgiven. Much like the Israelites, even though we believe, are baptized and have received the Holy Spirit, because of the sinfulness of our flesh, we rebel against the Lord. You may think rebel is a strong word and it is. But what else is it when know what is good and right to the Lord Jesus and we don’t do it but do the opposite instead.
We may wonder sometimes why the Lord allows us to keep this sinful flesh which impels us to sin so often. We wouldn’t be the first ones to do so. But we do have the Holy Spirit who changes our hearts and minds who conforms us to the image of Christ during our lifetime. Yet, the sinful flesh remains. What can we do when we rebel like the Israelites? Like them, we look to Jesus Christ on the cross and believe what he has accomplished there. He has nailed the Law that accuses us to the cross. The penalty for our sins we see in Jesus hanging from that tree. So we confess our sins in all earnest and believe what our Lord has done for that. John reminds us, 1Jn 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” and 1Jn 2:1 “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
Heavenly Father grant us faith to repent of our sins and to look to Christ Jesus, you Son, that we may receive forgiveness and life. Continually give us your Holy Spirit that we may do your will and conform our wills to your ways always. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.