Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

STOLEN COOKIES From childhood, I remember the story of the little boy who stole his mother's cookies and hid in the oven to keep her from seeing him eat them. After he had stuffed them all into his mouth, he climbed out, assured nobody would know. Just as he was going out the back door, his mother caught him and demanded, "Why did you disobey and eat the cookies?" The little boy was amazed and thought his mother could see through the oven door, until she explained he had left crumbs on his mouth and clothing. The lad learned, to his bitter disappointment, that our sins are always found out. Numbers is a record of Israel's disobedience and failure. This book shows how their disobedience always resulted in tragedy. The book was so named because it tells of the census Moses took of Israel. Still the main thrust of Numbers is: Be sure your sins will find you out. When punishment for their wrongdoing is delayed, some people feel they have gotten away with their evil deeds. However, both the Old and New Testaments tell us that whatever we sow, we will reap. God is patient and often gives sinners much time to repent. Sometimes we wonder if the wicked will ever be punished, but the Bible assures us that there will be a reckoning. In the Day of Judgment, all of us will stand before God to give an account for our sins. Lest we despair, the law of sowing and reaping is also positive--if we sow to the Spirit, we will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. May the seeds we sow and deeds we do be such that we look forward to the harvest with anticipation and not dread.