THE FAITHFULLNESS OF THE BELIEVER
“The Rubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock so they came to Moses and Elizer and to the leaders of the community, and said “…..if we have found favour in our eyes let the land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not make us cross over the Jordan.” (Numbers 32:1-5 NIV)
In essence, what the Rubenites and the Gadites were saying was that God had made a mistake. This land they had come to, Jazer and Gilead, was good enough for them. They did not see the need to go any further. There was no point crossing the Jordan. They were content. But that was not the land that God had promised them. To persuade Moses to let them stay, they argued that the land was good for livestock and since they had livestock, it was the most suitable place for them. They were thinking only about themselves and not their brothers. God had blessed them with large herds and flock and this blessing had now become the obstacle to their obedience to God.
This is similar to the state of many Believers today. We have asked God to bless us and He has done just that but His desire is to bless us even more. However, we have allowed the blessing to take our focus away from God and instead of worshipping the “Blesser” we are worshipping the “Blessing”. Since we have failed to honour Him with the little He has given, He cannot trust us with the full package. Even worse, we have become selfish forgetting that He has blessed us so that we may be a blessing.
In the above illustrations, three things become clear:
a) Just like the Rubenites and the Gadites, we settle for less than what God has for us;
b) After we have been blessed, many of us take our focus off God and begin to worship the blessing; and
c) We become selfish with what God has blessed us with.
This month let us focus on obeying God to the end. Let us focus on Him and not on the blessing that He has so lovingly given to us. Let us not forget that the reason He has blessed us is so that we may be a blessing to others. Finally, may we not settle for second best but strive to attain/obtain God’s best for us. May we possess the land and the harvest that He has for us. We call that harvest to fruition in Jesus Mighty Name. We refuse every spirit of compromise that would want to keep us from carrying the cross to the very end. Amen.
Prayer Points:
1. Pray for faithfulness in the Body of Christ. Cancel and destroy every spirit of compromise and complacency;
2. Pray for commitment to finish the course. Cancel and destroy every plan of the enemy that will cause Believers not to finish that which God has commanded them to do. Pray that like Paul, we will be able to say we have fought the good fight of faith and we have completed the race;
3. Pray that God will raise up voices that will not fear but will speak with boldness to all those who are on the verge of compromising so that they may not miss their destiny;
4. Pray that as Believers, we shall not focus on the blessing and forget the “Blesser” but rather we shall look at the blessing so that we may give praise to the Lord; and
5. Pray that we shall step into and possess our God-given harvest.
