CLOSE BUT NO MEDAL

READING: NUMBERS 20:7-13

Verse 12: “Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron. ‘Because you did not believe Me, to hallow me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.’”

This passage describes the great sin of Moses. God told him to speak to a rock to have it produce water for the people. Instead, Moses struck the rock twice with his rod to produce the water. God’s response to this disobedience was to prohibit Moses from entering the Promised Land. By many of today’s standards, what Moses did would not be classified as a great sin. Some would conclude that Moses basically did what the Lord wanted. He pretty much got it right and that should be good enough. In other words, Moses was in the ballpark. The Lord God, however, did not view it that way, and neither should we accept that type of thinking and evaluating. If we are to be faithful in and for the Kingdom of the Lord, we can’t be “in the ballpark Christians.” Instead we can commit to precision and exactness in our responses to His will and to His way. That’s a thought – about God’s Word.

RESPONSE

1. What does a person need, who thinks the Lord is too strict?

2. In what way have you been disappointed by a near miss?