Numbers 13:20
And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.
I could not help but think back to the nursery rhyme, “Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean, and so between the two of them, they picked the platter clean.”
Moses in this verse is directing the twelve spies as they prepare to go spy out the new land that the Lord has given them to possess. Moses was Israel’s greatest cheerleader; he believed in them, but more importantly He believed that their God would do as He said. But as human nature would have it, two spies returned in jubilation and ten spies in defeat. The battle had not even begun and they had receded. I’ll give you two guesses on who had the greater influence over the entire congregation and the first guess won’t count. And so that pattern continues in the church today. Of a congregation of one hundred, you likely have twenty giant slayers and ten of those are waiting for someone to bring out the sword. And then you have that eighty, the eighty that drive me crazy! You have your fearless leader and Pastor standing before the congregation, cheering them on to win souls for Christ, and you have the ten or so behind him shouting glory to God, we’ve got this! And crickets and grasshopper in the pew saying the battle is over, let’s just wait till Jesus comes back and He can sort this mess out.
Why did they not listen to Moses’ words, and why do we still not?
Whether it be fat or lean…
Pick the platter clean boy and girls! They’re out there. The fruit of the land is there even in the most barren of circumstances. Right now it looks as if the world is filled with giants against Christianity. The Muslim faith is growing leaps and bounds, the agnostics and atheists are consuming our government, and a thousand little do nothing religions are popping up in every town because everybody knows you need something to believe in. If Joshua and Caleb were here they’d look across America and say “Look at that fruit!” All of these souls searching for something and we have the answer.
But the grasshoppers in the pew look at the other religions and say they’re too many, they’re too powerful. And Moses would ask, “Did God not create them all and can He not destroy or save them all? Be of good courage.”
Satan does not care about grasshopper Christianity. The pew sitting people of God who show up at 11:00 sharp and leave at 12:00 dull. He will let them set in their pew and rot. But the ones who come to church to sharpen their sword… Satan is all over them. That’s why you need courage, because you’re in the frontline of the battle and you’ll have giants in front of you every day. But the same God Who created it all, is the same God Who can remove them from your path, or give you the strength to knock them over.
Fight on child of God, and the leave the grasshoppers to God. This message was written for me… chief grasshopper watcher.