READING:
One-year plan: Numbers 1-2
Two-year plan: Job 5, Acts 18:18-28
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God is good. He protected His people in Egypt. He led them out of that country, providing resources for them as they went. He sent plagues to convince Pharaoh to let them go. He gave them His commandments and laws. He provided daily food for them. He so blessed them that perhaps as many as 2 million people (more than 603,000 males ages 20 or older) had come from Abraham. The Promised Land awaited them.
And war would greet them there.
In fact, they were to count the number of warriors ready to go: “Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their clans and their ancestral houses, counting the names of every male one by one. You and Aaron are to register those who are 20 years old or more by their military divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel’s army” (Num 1:2-3). God was deliberately leading His people into a war. He would give them the land, but not without their being in a fight.
God’s pattern has not changed. He draws us to Him, calling us to follow Him and trust Him — all the while knowing that He is sending us into a spiritual war. We wrestle against principalities and powers (Eph 6:12), but we do not do so without God’s knowledge. Indeed, He deploys us there, reminding us that He’s the Divine Warrior. In that war, we learn dependence on Him.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Are you in a spiritual battle today? If so, trust Him.
DAILY PRAYER: “God, thank You for fighting the battles for us.”
TOMORROW’S READINGS:
One-year plan: Numbers 3-5
Two-year plan: Job 6-7, Acts 19:1-20
MEMORIZATION VERSE (Feb 1-15):
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
*first published in 2016
