Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war. Numbers 26:2 – All those who were to die in the wilderness due to their sin (except one, Moses) had now died with the plague in the previous chapter. It was now the younger generation’s turn to enter into the Promised Land. As God did with the first generation, He called for a census to be taken to see how many men there were ready to go to war. We see in verse 51 that the difference from the first census was only a loss of 1,820 men. Yet remember why they were counted, these were the men who would be going to war to conquer Canaan and possess the Promised Land. After reading this passage, Spurgeon had a solid question about the church today. Essentially he asked how many congregations today could be counted as “ready to go to war” for the Lord? God’s mercy has taken care of us and blessed us, yet are we a people ready to fight for the Lord? Has our churches fostered soldiers who are ready to boldly fight for what God calls us to fight for, or have we fostered only children in the faith that aren’t ready yet to stand how the Lord needs His people to stand? While I certainly am not saying our churches need to look like boot camp, I am saying that if church life is so tailored to the peoples’ comforts and preferences, that we can miss the opportunities to sharpen our brothers and sisters for the work God is calling them to. Church should push us out of our comfort zone and convict us of any sin in our life. If we can walk out of church not challenged in any way or not sharpened in our faith at all, then maybe we need to find a new church that will for the Lord’s work is too important to remain children in the faith not ready to fight. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3376
Question To Ponder: Why is growing in the Lord important?
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