Prayer – Lord, I choose You. I want to live my life
without complaining—but sometimes life is tough and it is hard not to moan and
groan a bit. Sorry about that. Forgive me and help me to realize how good I’ve
got it. Life is good—because of You.
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: "Speak to
the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father's house, all
their leaders according to their fathers' houses—twelve rods. Write each man's
name on his rod. And you shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi. For there
shall be one rod for the head of each father's house. Then you shall place them
in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. And
it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I
will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make
against you." So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their
leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers' houses,
twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses placed the
rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. Now it came to pass on the
next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of
Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced
blossoms and yielded ripe almonds. Then Moses brought out all the rods from
before the LORD to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man
took his rod. And the LORD said to Moses, "Bring Aaron's rod back before
the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their
complaints away from Me, lest they die." Numbers 17:1-10 NKJV
Meditate. Consider God’s method of dealing with rebellion.
The Israelites were on their way from Egypt to the Promised
Land—but they continually were rebellious and disrespectful to God and to
Moses. Finally, God had enough and wanted to show them that He was tired of the
complaining.
"And it shall
be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid
Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against
you." Numbers 17:5 NKJV
Choose. God chose the tribe of Aaron. He not only made the
rod blossom, but note, it had actual almonds! Beyond blossoms to the real
fruit.
 |
| Blossoms will yield Fruit As Good as its Gets |
But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
NKJV
No grumbling, so God doesn’t have to rid Himself of
our complaints. Instead, He has given us a great promise known as the Fruit of
the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a bonus that all Christians get when they accept
Jesus as their Savior. Living life pleasing to God results in the gaining that
fruit of the spirit—feeling the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control permeate one’s life. That’s as good
as it gets!
Verse of Salvation ~ The LORD is good to those who wait
for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait
quietly For the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:25-26 NKJV
© 2024 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New King James Version (NKJV) unless
otherwise noted.
New King James Version, ©
1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Harper
Collins Publisher. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
New Living Translation (NLT) copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by
Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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