PENGUIN PUZZLE

Numbers 13:30-32;14:1-4
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. . . . 1 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to
let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" 4 And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."

The evening news program included a story about the bizarre behavior of penguins at the San Francisco Zoo. Six newcomers from Sea World in Ohio managed to persuade the 46 locals to follow their lead. The zookeeper said, "We've lost control. It's a free-for-all in here."

Ever since the new guys showed up, all 52 have been swimming around the circular pool from dawn to dusk. It's quite a sight to see them swim and swim and stagger out of the pool at night. Penguin experts are puzzled, but they say that web-footed friends are highly social and are "open to new ideas fostered by newcomers."

It may be hard to explain penguin behavior, but people can be even more puzzling. As I read the biblical account of what happened soon after Moses led a huge group in their exodus from Egypt, I had to wonder how just a few were able to get everyone else to follow them in rebelling against Moses (Numbers 13:26-14:4). After everything they had been through in Egypt--the miraculous escape and the parting of the sea--they allowed the bad report of a few spies to turn them into doubting and grumbling rebels against Moses and God. They even said they wanted a new leader who would take them back to Egypt (14:4).

I'd like to think that no followers of Jesus today would be so gullible, so fickle, so foolish, so easily influenced by others. That's what I'd like to think.

But how many of us have "gone back to Egypt" or thought about it seriously? That is, how many have started out on the journey of faith, following Jesus, but have since begun to have second thoughts. We've been listening to somebody, maybe even a few friends, who have been suggesting that we're missing out on life. Trying to be moral and honest in society today, they may suggest, is too much to ask.

But is it? Is it too much for us to give our total allegiance to the One who gave His life for us? --Kurt De Haan

DESTINATION POINTS

* When is it tough to live for Jesus?
* Do my friends encourage me to go forward with Jesus?
* Why is it worth it to continue to follow Him?

LINKS:
What Does It Take To Follow Christ?
http://www.discoveryseries.org/q0710

bottom line: You can't walk close to Jesus while looking back.

soul journey