Fri. Oct 2
"EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE." (JN 3:15 NLT)
Look and Live!
When Jesus told Nicodemus, "You must be born again," this Jewish scholar didn't get it. So Jesus explains that in the birthing process, the infant allows the parent to do the work. "There must be more," thinks Nicodemus. Using this visiting professor's favorite book, the Torah, Jesus says, "As Moses lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life" (vs. 14-15 NLT). Nicodemus got the point!
When God had heard all the complaining He could put up with, He "sent fiery serpents...and many of the people of Israel died" (Nu 21:6 NKJV). The survivors pleaded with Moses to ask God for mercy. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and...everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live'" (Nu 21:8 NKJV). The snake-bitten Israelites found healing by looking at the pole - and the sinners find salvation by looking to Christ. Look and live! The simplicity of it troubles us. We expect a more complicated cure. Moses and his followers might have expected more as well: manufacture an ointment, treat one another, or at least fight back. We say, "God helps those who helps themselves." But Jesus says, "Only believe." You believe the chair will hold your weight, so you sit on it. You trust the work of the light switch, so you flip it. You regularly trust power you cannot see to do a work you cannot accomplish. Today, Jesus asks you to do the same.
When God had heard all the complaining He could put up with, He "sent fiery serpents...and many of the people of Israel died" (Nu 21:6 NKJV). The survivors pleaded with Moses to ask God for mercy. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and...everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live'" (Nu 21:8 NKJV). The snake-bitten Israelites found healing by looking at the pole - and the sinners find salvation by looking to Christ. Look and live! The simplicity of it troubles us. We expect a more complicated cure. Moses and his followers might have expected more as well: manufacture an ointment, treat one another, or at least fight back. We say, "God helps those who helps themselves." But Jesus says, "Only believe." You believe the chair will hold your weight, so you sit on it. You trust the work of the light switch, so you flip it. You regularly trust power you cannot see to do a work you cannot accomplish. Today, Jesus asks you to do the same.
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