What's Your Legacy?
Scripture: Numbers 13: 3-15, 31-33
He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran. 4 These were the tribes and the names of their leaders:
Tribe — Leader
Reuben — Shammua son of Zaccur
5 Simeon — Shaphat son of Hori
6 Judah — Caleb son of Jephunneh
7 Issachar — Igal son of Joseph
8 Ephraim — Hoshea son of Nun
9 Benjamin — Palti son of Raphu
10 Zebulun — Gaddiel son of Sodi
11 Manasseh son of Joseph — Gaddi son of Susi
12 Dan — Ammiel son of Gemalli
13 Asher — Sethur son of Michael
14 Naphtali — Nahbi son of Vophsi
15 Gad — Geuel son of Maki
31 But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” 32 So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 33 We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”
Observations:
Before they entered into the Promised Land, God ordered Moses to select one man from each tribe to form an exploration committee who would report back to him about the details so that the Israelites could strategically invade the land and conquer it's inhabitants. Upon their return, 10 of the men, whose names are mentioned above, reported that they were too weak to enter into the land and that they should not even try. Their overwhelming negative report spread like wildfire throughout the camp directly resulting in an almost unanimous revolt with the exception of 3 men The people were so angry that they actually decided to fire Moses and collectively return to Egypt!!(Numbers 14:1-3). At this critical moment in Israel's history, 10 individuals changed the entire destiny of the nation for the worse, and consequently forfeited God's plan for themselves and the other 2 million people, minus 3. God had Moses write the names of these individuals who were directly responsible for such an incredible loss and forever highlight their failed legacy as public record.
Application:
Everyone each day is leaving a legacy behind to the people they cross paths with. There's no such thing as a purely neutral decision. Every choice, every decision we make was affected by someone else's previous decision and will enevitably affect the lives of others in some way either positively or negatively. Those choices are our legacy to our friends, family, and to the world aroud us. One day in eternity "the books will be opened and...all will be judged according to their deeds..." (Revelations 20:12-13). On that day our permanent record will be read and our eternal legacy will be fully realized before all creation as our lives are evaluated, our decisions examines, our true motives revealed, and the thoughts and intents of our heart exposed. In that moment we will all wish that we had weighed our choices more carefully, however then it will be too late. We do, however, have the opportunity today in this moment to choose this day whom we will serve in light of the fact that our legacy in this life will echo throughout eternity in the lives of others to the sound of praises or regret. What will yours sound like?
Prayer:
Father, help us today to choose obedience to Your Word as the filter of our thoughts and choices at all times in every situation we face. Help us to understand the eternal value of our decisions so that will leave a legacy behind us that will point the world around us to Christ. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran. 4 These were the tribes and the names of their leaders:
Tribe — Leader
Reuben — Shammua son of Zaccur
5 Simeon — Shaphat son of Hori
6 Judah — Caleb son of Jephunneh
7 Issachar — Igal son of Joseph
8 Ephraim — Hoshea son of Nun
9 Benjamin — Palti son of Raphu
10 Zebulun — Gaddiel son of Sodi
11 Manasseh son of Joseph — Gaddi son of Susi
12 Dan — Ammiel son of Gemalli
13 Asher — Sethur son of Michael
14 Naphtali — Nahbi son of Vophsi
15 Gad — Geuel son of Maki
31 But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” 32 So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 33 We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”
Observations:
Before they entered into the Promised Land, God ordered Moses to select one man from each tribe to form an exploration committee who would report back to him about the details so that the Israelites could strategically invade the land and conquer it's inhabitants. Upon their return, 10 of the men, whose names are mentioned above, reported that they were too weak to enter into the land and that they should not even try. Their overwhelming negative report spread like wildfire throughout the camp directly resulting in an almost unanimous revolt with the exception of 3 men The people were so angry that they actually decided to fire Moses and collectively return to Egypt!!(Numbers 14:1-3). At this critical moment in Israel's history, 10 individuals changed the entire destiny of the nation for the worse, and consequently forfeited God's plan for themselves and the other 2 million people, minus 3. God had Moses write the names of these individuals who were directly responsible for such an incredible loss and forever highlight their failed legacy as public record.
Application:
Everyone each day is leaving a legacy behind to the people they cross paths with. There's no such thing as a purely neutral decision. Every choice, every decision we make was affected by someone else's previous decision and will enevitably affect the lives of others in some way either positively or negatively. Those choices are our legacy to our friends, family, and to the world aroud us. One day in eternity "the books will be opened and...all will be judged according to their deeds..." (Revelations 20:12-13). On that day our permanent record will be read and our eternal legacy will be fully realized before all creation as our lives are evaluated, our decisions examines, our true motives revealed, and the thoughts and intents of our heart exposed. In that moment we will all wish that we had weighed our choices more carefully, however then it will be too late. We do, however, have the opportunity today in this moment to choose this day whom we will serve in light of the fact that our legacy in this life will echo throughout eternity in the lives of others to the sound of praises or regret. What will yours sound like?
Prayer:
Father, help us today to choose obedience to Your Word as the filter of our thoughts and choices at all times in every situation we face. Help us to understand the eternal value of our decisions so that will leave a legacy behind us that will point the world around us to Christ. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
I might add that these 10 men who were directly responsible were all killed swiftly in Numbers 14:36-37 "The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the Lord with their bad report—37 were struck dead with a plague before the Lord."
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