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\u2019t stop; it continues on and the believer who has grown stagnant may not be ready for what\u2019s ahead.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
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:<\/p>\n
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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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).<\/p>\n
“LORD, show us anything that might keep us from finishing well so that we can throw it aside now before the next storm hits.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
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Numbers 32 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1<\/sup>\u00a0Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>a place for cattle;\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0Even\u00a0<\/em>the country which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0smote before the congregation of Israel,\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle:\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>bring us not over Jordan. 6<\/sup> And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath given them?\u00a0\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had given them.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u2019S\u00a0anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying,\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:\u00a0\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the\u00a0LORD. 13<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u2019S\u00a0anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the\u00a0LORD, was consumed.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers\u2019 stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the\u00a0LORDtoward Israel.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people. 16<\/sup>\u00a0And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones:\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward. 20<\/sup>\u00a0And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0to war,\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the\u00a0LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0And the land be subdued before the\u00a0LORD: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the\u00a0LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the\u00a0LORD.\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the\u00a0LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.\u00a024<\/sup>Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead:\u00a027<\/sup>But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0to battle, as my lord saith. 28<\/sup>\u00a0So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel:\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the\u00a0LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.\u00a031<\/sup>\u00a0And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.\u00a032<\/sup>\u00a0We will pass over armed before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan\u00a0may be\u00a0<\/em>ours.\u00a033<\/sup>\u00a0And Moses gave unto them,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts,\u00a0even<\/em>the cities of the country round about. 34<\/sup>\u00a0And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,\u00a035<\/sup>\u00a0And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,\u00a0\u00a036<\/sup>\u00a0And Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fenced cities: and folds for sheep.\u00a0\u00a037<\/sup>\u00a0And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,\u00a038<\/sup>\u00a0And Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded.\u00a0\u00a039<\/sup>\u00a0And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>in it.\u00a040<\/sup>\u00a0And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein.\u00a041<\/sup>\u00a0And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havoth-jair.\u00a042<\/sup>\u00a0And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5788"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5788"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15993,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5788\/revisions\/15993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}