READING: Numbers 32-34, Mark 9:30-50
“Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the Lord has given them?”
Numbers 32:7
Many of us are easily discouraged, and it usually takes only a few people to direct us down that path. That’s what happened to the Hebrews decades before, when ten spies – albeit the majority of the 12 spies – convinced them to ignore God’s promise of the land. That land was filled with giants, they said, and it would be far too risky for God’s people to try to take it. That rebellion resulted in 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and the deaths of an entire generation.
In today’s reading, the following generation was moving toward the Promised Land. Two tribes, the tribes of Reuben and Gad, requested to stay on the other side of the Jordan River rather than enter the land. They had many livestock, and the land on which they found themselves was good for raising livestock. Moses eventually granted them permission to stay, but only after they agreed to help the other tribes conquer the Promised Land. His concern was that the tribes of Reuben and Gad might have been doing what the ten spies had done years prior; by their not entering the land, they would have been discouraging the other tribes against taking the next steps into the land. God’s anger would have only been renewed had the people done that, though Reuben and Gad would not have gotten away with their sin: “be sure your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23).
I wonder today if my actions ever discourage others from following God fully. Has my lack of faith ever caused others to struggle, not unlike the father in Mark 9 whose belief wavered when the disciples could not exorcise a demon from his son? Have I ever shown such a lack of joy that non-believers would not want the faith that I claim? In my fourteen years as a senior pastor, did I ever allow my fears to trump the faith of other church leaders? I pray not, but I suspect I sometimes allowed my own struggles to discourage others.
Perhaps today’s reading reminds me of yesterday’s sin so I don’t commit the same sin today. Whatever choices I make, I don’t want to discourage others from following God fully.
ACTION STEPS:
- Evaluate whether you are easily discouraged. If so, confess that tendency to God.
- Make your decisions today with this thought in mind: “My decisions and actions today affect others.”
PRAYER: “God, help me to live in such a way that I always encourage, not discourage others in their walk with God.”
TOMORROW'S READING: Numbers 35-36, Mark 10:1-31
