Scripture: Deuteronomy 1:22-23
22 Then all of you came to me and said, "Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to."
23 The idea seemed good to me; so I selected twelve of you, one man from each tribe.
Observation: Moses is speaking to the Israelites, retelling the history of their sojourn in the wilderness. Here he tells the story of when they reached Canaan for the first time. What I noticed is that the people made a suggestion and Moses says, "the idea seemed good to me, so I selected twelve of you..." (Of course we know this turned out to be a terrible idea as it resulted in a negative report by ten of the spies and rebellion among the people.) But did you catch the fact that Moses didn't take the idea to the Lord? He didn't pray about it or ask for wisdom. He just decided to run with it because it "seemed" like a good idea. Yikes!
Application: This speaks of the imperative of seeking God's will, especially for those in spiritual leadership. Just making a decision by thinking it over, or using your common sense can bring truly disastrous results. Now, I'm all for using our God-given intelligence, but our brains are no substitute for God's guidance. As David writes:
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6 (King James Version)Bottom line: Pray and seek wisdom, always stop and seek the Lord's guidance, particularly in critical junctures, and especially if you are in a position of leadership of any kind.
Prayer: Lord, I want to walk always in your will and by your wisdom. Help me to remember to seek your will before I make key decisions. Do this and protect those whom I lead from any direction that is not from you.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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