Scout’s Report

Num 13:25-14:2         11/13/2017

The scouts gave their report to Moses in the hearing of the people. The information they reported was accurate. However, their interpretation of what they had seen left the people despondent because most of the scouts had concluded the land was unconquerable.

There is an inevitable despair that comes when I am faced with the prospect of having to do something I know is impossible for me. My natural response is to avoid the situation – if I can, then somehow escape. If not, I face it with grim resignation in the knowledge that my effort is futile.

Nicodemus once said to Jesus, “How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?”

It sometimes sounds like a theological exchange – I think that’s how I have often read it. A Pharisee looking for an intellectual joust; marveling at the wisdom of an unlearned teacher.

But this morning, I am struck by the thought that Nicodemus was really as frightened by Jesus’ message as his ancestors had been at the prospect of entering a land inhabited by giants. His response suddenly seems like a frightened cry; A deeply personal “I can’t do this.”

God made you powerful to accomplish every good thing. Whatever you face today – you are more than a conqueror through your belief in Him.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:17