Daily Manna: Insincere Lifestyle. Monday 02, December 2013

Daily Manna: Insincere Lifestyle
Monday 02, December 2013
TEXT: NUMBERS 14:40-45

KEY VERSE: “And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies” (Numbers 14:41,42).

Pastor Lewis Llewellyn says that the Koreans have a curious new-year custom. Desiring to forget unpleasant things and make a fresh start, each person determines what bad habits he would like to eliminate and what past deeds he wants forgiven. Then he writes the names of those evils on a kite and flies it high into the air. When it is almost out of sight, he cuts the string. As the “paper bird” takes a nosedive and disappears from sight, he thinks that all his faults and previous transgressions are forever removed.

This preamble describes the action of the Israelites in the text under review. Without genuine repentance, the people felt they could easily be accepted before God. They presumptuously determined to go up “unto the place which the LORD hath promised”. However, God did not confuse their admission of guilt with true repentance because He knew their hearts. Sure enough, they soon went their own way again.

God expects every sinner to genuinely repent and turn away from the old lifestyle of sin. Repentance is the acknowledgement of sins and the willingness to turn away from them. After repentance from sin, faith must be anchored in Christ who forgives sins and produces the grace for a righteous living.

Moses emphasized the danger of not being sincere before God. He told them that the presence of God would depart from them and that they would fall by the sword of their enemies. It is the same today. A sinner is at the mercy of the devil. Genuine and heart-felt repentance must therefore be undertaken by those who truly want to be pardoned. This done, a life-long commitment to holy living and obedience are required to ultimately enter heaven.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Repentance and faith connect a sinner with God.

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