-Twenty Eight- The Wages Of Sin

The Wages of Sin

Today’s Reading: Numbers 21:4-9

Focal Verse: Numbers 21:8b

“….it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”

We, as humans, have a “grass is greener on the other side” mentality. We have a very difficult time being happy with what we have.

The Israelites were no different. They were provided daily with food they did not have to labor to make grow. They only had to gather what was provided. They were so anxious to have “something better” that they began to despise God’s provision. This lack of thankfulness led them to speak against God.

Don’t we do the same thing? When is the last time you got on your knees to thank Him for the most basic provisions? Most of us are so busy looking for the next thing we “have to get” that we begin to despise what God has already given us. That is sin.

Romans 6:23a reads: “For the wages of sin is death.” Sin has consequences. The consequences of sin bite into our lives like the bite of these serpents with the fiery sting. But God, in His grace, provided the Israelites a way out of death from the sting of sin. They had to believe in His power to overcome death by looking at the bronze serpent set on the pole. They couldn’t overcome the consequences of their sin in their own strength.

Jesus foretold of His own death on the cross by using this illustration recorded in John 3:14-15: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

There is one answer to the sting of sin and the resulting death it brings: Jesus Christ, lifted up on a cross – the payment for our sins. Once again, we have to acknowledge our powerlessness to overcome sin on our own, and then believe in the remedy God provided: Romans 6:23b “…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Have you accepted the gift of Jesus Christ?

Spend time thanking God for His provision in your life.