4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the [f]Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the [g]people became impatient because of the journey. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no [h]food and no water, and [i]we loathe this miserable food.”
The Bronze Serpent
6 The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “[j]Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
You would think at this point that the people would figure out that bad things happen when they complain against God. But here they are again, wishing their slavery back upon themselves.
It is a startling thought, that life could get so tough as a Christian that some go back to their slavery, just like the ancient Israelites. Unfortunately, some just aren’t willing to give up temporary creature comforts in return for an eternity spent with our Father.
It reminds me somewhat of something Dave Ramsey says, “Adults devise a plan and stick to it. Children do what feels good.” Ironic that childlike faith is what we all need to stick to God’s plan for our lives. Each of us has a plan, designed by God, for our lives. We don’t even need to make it up, we just need to follow Him. So simple in concept, so hard to do in real life. Will you stick to the plan, and receive eternal reward, or fall back and do what feels good in the moment, only to suffer the consequences later?