When
Israel was in the wilderness they had no water to drink. They came to a
mountain and the Lord told Moses, “Assemble the congregation and speak to the
rock before their eyes that it might yield its water” (Numbers 20:8). Moses
was probably thinking, “What? You want me to talk to this rock? That’s not
going to work. I have a better idea, I’ll hit it a couple of times with my rod.”
(Jesus said with faith it’s possible to speak to a mountain and cast it
into the sea). Moses struck the rock twice with his rod. Because he
disobeyed, he wasn’t allowed to enter the Promised Land.
It
seemed like an innocent mistake. At an earlier time Moses used his rod to hit a
rock to bring forth water (Ex. 17:6) but this time God changed the method.
Now instead of hitting it, God wanted him to simply speak to the rock to get
water. He wanted Moses to obey Him and not depend on the method he used the
last time. Just because it worked that
way before doesn’t mean God wants us to keep doing it that way.
The
amazing thing is—even though he disobeyed God and hit the rock, the water still
gushed out. What’s the lesson here? People can produce impressive results
without having God’s blessing. Filthy movies can be blockbusters, but it’s not
because God is in it. Drug dealers make lots of money even though God opposes
what they’re doing. Obeying God is more important than looking successful
in other people’s eyes.
Moses
died in the wilderness because he didn’t obey what God told him to do. Don’t
make the same mistake. Do what the Lord says, even if it’s something as silly
as talking to a rock. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net
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