Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the Lord had commanded him to say.
It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.’ Read Deuteronomy 1,2
Memory Verse: “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. Jeremiah 17:7
Have you ever had to deal with a time waster? how annoying do you think it is when someone decided to waste your time? personally I don’t really like getting myself into conversations with people just for conversation sake and I see times wasters as life wasters. This is because every minute in every day is important to me; I am not a big fan of time wasting. Yesterday the only thing that kept lingering in my mind was how can I avoid wasting my own time?
The Israelites spent 40years between Egypt and Cannan, a journey which should have taken only 11days. For better understanding and clarity, there are 14,600 days in 40years (480 months) which means the Israelites spent 14,589 more days on a journey that should have been straightforward. Moses gave an account of the journey of the rest of his life spent leading the Israelite from Egypt till he had sight of the promise land.
WOW! Can some actually spend a huge part of their life wandering? You have your answer from the story of the Israelites journey; it is possible! The original plan came from Abraham’s conversation with God when He got the promise in Genesis 15, but due to Abrahams reaction to the birds that came during his offering to God which he chased away, God told Abraham in his dream “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years” Genesis 15:13 and when it was God’s time, He sent Moses to free His people from slavery as written in Exodus 3.
As we know, God is always true to His word and when He said a journey will take 11days why did it become 40 years? This happened because the Israelites choose rebelling, grumbling, murmuring, arrogance, and idol worshipping over a relationship, fellowship and total reliance on God. All this lead to them wandering and dying in the wilderness. Their actions had consequences and for the Israelites, it meant the older generation did not make it to the promised land, Moses inclusive. Under Joshua’s leadership according to Numbers 27:15-22, the new generation who didn’t take part in complaining and rebelling against God made it to the promised land, Deuteronmony1:32-37.
If God has made a promise, because it’s impossible for Him to lie, He will bring it to pass but you play a major role in the fulfillment of God’s promises. Are you like the old generation Israelites or the new generation? Are you constantly rebelling, being ungrateful and murmuring against God or do you believe, have faith in Him and serve Him diligently? Your position with God may impact your ability to receive God’s promise.
Remember God’s honour is reserved for only those who honour Him, don’t be the time waster in your own journey of life. The choice is yours 11days Vs 40years.
PRAYERS:
- Father I am thankful for the gift of life
- I am sorry for the ways I have been ungrateful and not been committed to fellowshipping with you
- Help me from today to return into your presence, and live a life worthy of benefiting from your promises
- Help me to turn aside crooked ways, help me to live right before you and not like the old Israelites
- Forgive me all my sins O Lord and let your mercy prevail over judgement
- Thank you Lord for answers to prayers, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.
