Numbers 32:5–6: “Therefore they said, ‘If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.’ And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: ‘Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?'”

February 11th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The children of Gad and Reuben liked where they were and didn’t want to go any further into the Promised Land. We can see in this a type or model of believer that has come to a place of dangerous spiritual contentment in their journey with God. They are simply happy where they are and don’t want to press on any further in the Christian life. But life doesn’t stop; it continues on and the believer who has grown stagnant may not be ready for what’s ahead.

Years ago I loved to race motorcycles across the California desert. Each racecourse was skillfully and carefully marked out for us in advance. If we wanted to have any chance of success, we needed to heed those markings. Life is a lot like that as well, but there is one big difference between those races and life. In motorcycle racing, we got to walk the course first. We could study it and be ready for difficult places. In life we don’t have that advantage, so things come at us unexpectedly. We don’t have time the moment we hit difficulties to prepare. We must already be prepared for the twists and turns.

One way we can do this is by being submitted to the Lord, so that our fellowship with Him is open and unhindered. Many years ago British pastor F.B. Meyer wrote:

Thousands of Christians are like waterlogged vessels, they cannot sink; yet, they are saturated with so many inconsistencies, worldliness and little permitted evils that they can only be towed with difficulty into the celestial port.

Life is often hard and messy. Don’t be weighed down with extra spiritual baggage. Whatever is hindering you, throw it off quickly. Get rid of excess baggage. Throw overboard every concern, worry, and doubt that holds you back or weighs you down. The writer to the Hebrews in the New Testament said it this way, “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1).

“LORD, show us anything that might keep us from finishing well so that we can throw it aside now before the next storm hits.”