October 9 – Hebrews 3:16-19. No Whining.

October 9 – Hebrews 3:16-19. No Whining.

Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?  So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Whining and complaining, complaining and whining.

It seems as if that is all the Israelites did from the moment that got through the Red Sea and away from Pharoah.

In one fell swoop, they forgot about the abuse they tolerated at the hands of the Egyptian overseers while they lived as slaves.  They forgot about the beatings and the reduction in supplies that occurred while their output of bricks was to remain the same.  They decided that freedom with some trials and tribulations wasn’t worth it and wanted to return to the old way of living rather than face something new.

They whined and complained about the travel, about the lack of water, about the lack of food.  When God sent manna from heaven, they whined about not having meat.  There wasn’t much this group of ungrateful wretches didn’t whine and complain about.

When Moses went up to meet with God, they decided that honoring God wasn’t nearly as important as … say … a golden calf!

I’m not saying that as Christians we are as bad as the Israelites, but sometimes we can be pretty close.  We whine and complain about our lives, the attitudes of people around us, the fact that God hasn’t given us every little thing we want at any given moment, that our lives are tough … it goes on and on.

 The Israelites were a disobedient lot and we have a tendency to be exactly the same.  We quickly forget the grace and mercy that God extends to us every moment of the day.  Let us remember and set aside our whining and complaining.