TODAY IS THE DAY

As has just been said, ‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’ Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter His rest if not those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter because of their unbelief. (Heb. 3:15-19)

These are serious words written about people who lived and died long ago, but applicable to us today. Today! We have no other time but today.

God’s people, the children of Israel, must have been excited at the thought that, through Moses, they would finally be free of the hated Egyptians and their cruel whips. With what expectation they gathered on that fateful night when the angel of death passed over the land of Egypt and left at least one dead in every household! The Israelites were untouched by the simple act of smearing blood on the doorposts of their houses. That was a miracle! It had to be because blood in and of itself could do nothing for them.

Then there was the unforgettable moment when the uncrossable Red Sea gave way and became a pathway through which they could walk on dry land. They saw it! They walked across it, and when they were through, the water collapsed back on itself and swallowed up the Egyptian army because it was not under God’s protection as they were.

So many miracles in the wilderness! Every day a vast cloud covered the camp and sheltered them from the searing desert heat. At night the same cloud glowed with warmth and kept them comfortable in the freezing desert cold. Every morning they gathered the mysterious manna which was there six days out of seven. On the seventh day, the ground was just ground, sandy, rocky and barren – no sign of the manna. It was heavenly bread, packed with all the goodness of all their food put together which nourished them and kept their bodies healthy and strong for their journey.

Where would they find water in a desert where is rained only every ten years? God did it again. He split a huge granite rock and so much water gushed out that it eroded the surrounding rocks and filled the plain below it with enough water to satisfy the needs of millions of people and animals for a whole year. How is that for a miracle!

When fiery snakes bit them because of their complaining against God, a brass snake on a pole was all it took to save them from the venom. In fact, God’s promise was a built-in medical service which guaranteed their preservation from sickness as long as they trusted Him.

They needed no shops or clothing boutiques. Their clothes and shoes miraculously lasted for the duration of their journey. How did that happen? God, again! For forty years God was an all-inclusive supply store of everything they needed. All they needed to do was ask and trust Him; but they didn’t.

They constantly revealed their unbelief and suspicion of Him by their complaining and threats. Worse still, they refused to obey Him. If He told them to do this, they did that! How is that for insult! They insulted God time and again by their in-you-face disobedience. It’s no wonder they provoked God to such an extent that even Moses’s intervention could not save them. One by one they died in the desert and their bodies were left to rot there instead of moving boldly and confidently into their inheritance.

For forty years, forty years! they went around in circles, just a few weeks journey from their destination but never reaching it because they would not listen in spite of all the miracles! How is that for wicked unbelief!

However, lest we judge them, what about us? We may not be crossing a real desert somewhere but life is often like a desert – barren and empty. Instead of trusting God and following His instructions, we complain, we murmur, we rebel and we disobey. We are no different from those who perished in the desert. We decide what to do and how to do it and we act like people in the world who don’t have a Father who loves them.

What’s the purpose of having to traverse the barren times in life? It’s about trust! Trust! That means listening, following, obeying, holding on and keeping on because the wilderness will come to an end. There is the abundance of God’s promises for those who are determined to go His way. When do we start? Today!

For those who trust God today, and today, and today, there is a reward, today! Rest! Trust leads to rest, the rest of leaning on the Father for the supply of every need without a murmur and without a qualm. In the desert? Is this really possible? Yes! God is full – full of everything, and He delights to fill those who know they are empty and come to Him to be filled.

All we need to do is to ask, and trust. After all, God is a perfect Father. And it can begin for you today.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.