When we are sick and told to do something that is good for us, we tend to bristle at the direction. Go to bed early. Flood your system with Vitamin C. Drink plenty of water. Don't go to work - let your body rest. Eat well. How do you respond to these directives? My husband tells me I am the WORST patient. He also manages to mention that perhaps it is my running on empty that may have allowed me to get sick. Ugh...more information than I want to hear!
We can only imagine what the Israelites felt like when God told them to look at a bronze serpent that Moses was instructed to make. It would be the source of healing for the people who were bitten by real serpents in the desert. They were dying all over the place from venom of the serpents and God was telling them to look at a fake bronze serpent! And yet, if they did not do what He said, they would surely die. Do you know that some refused to do it? I can be just as stiff-necked.
Today's devotional in the Check Book of the Bank of Faith by Charles H. Spurgeon rang my bell. Hope it rings yours too.
The brazen serpent was not lifted up as a curiosity to be gazed upon by the healthy; but its special purpose was for those who were "bitten." Jesus died as a real Savior for real sinners. Whether the bite has made you a drunkard, or a thief, or an unchaste or a profane person, a look at the great Savior will heal you of these diseases and make you live in holiness and communion with God. Look and live.
We can only imagine what the Israelites felt like when God told them to look at a bronze serpent that Moses was instructed to make. It would be the source of healing for the people who were bitten by real serpents in the desert. They were dying all over the place from venom of the serpents and God was telling them to look at a fake bronze serpent! And yet, if they did not do what He said, they would surely die. Do you know that some refused to do it? I can be just as stiff-necked.
Today's devotional in the Check Book of the Bank of Faith by Charles H. Spurgeon rang my bell. Hope it rings yours too.
Look and Live
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shalt come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." (Numbers 21:8)
This is a glorious gospel type. Jesus, numbered with the transgressors, hangs before us on the cross. A look to Him will heal us of the serpent-bite of sin; will heal us at once -- "When he looketh upon it, he shall live." Let the reader who is mourning his sinfulness note the words -- "Everyone that looketh upon it shall live." Every looker will find this true. I have found it so. I looked to Jesus and lived at once, I know I did. Reader, if you look to Jesus you will live, too. True, you are swelling with the venom, and you see no hope. True, also there is no hope but this one. But this is no doubtful cure -- "Everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live."The brazen serpent was not lifted up as a curiosity to be gazed upon by the healthy; but its special purpose was for those who were "bitten." Jesus died as a real Savior for real sinners. Whether the bite has made you a drunkard, or a thief, or an unchaste or a profane person, a look at the great Savior will heal you of these diseases and make you live in holiness and communion with God. Look and live.
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