STAND FOR GOD – JESUS STOOD FOR YOU

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.”
But the men who had gone up with him said,
“We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”
And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored.
Numbers 13:30-32

A children’s chorus begins with the words,
“Twelve men went to spy on Canaan, ten were bad, two were good.”
Can you name the two that were good?
The answer, of course is, Caleb and Joshua.
But can you name any of the others?
There was a speaker who would at times get out his wallet
and offer to pay a dollar for each of those names a person could recall.
He never gave away a single bill.
As he put away his wallet with all its dollar bills intact, he would say,
“We remember the people who stand for God, but not the ones who don’t.”

Joshua and Caleb stood for God.
Shammua, Shaphat, Igal and the others did not.
Their collective voices drowned out the faith of the other two.
It was not just a matter of a majority vote but of rebellion.
When the people decided not to do what God wanted,
it was a rebellion that resulted in 40 years of wandering
plus the death of all but the younger generation.
But Joshua and Caleb were spared.
They ultimately entered the Promised Land.
The message to believers is clear: stand for God – regardless of the numbers in opposition.

There are probably times you do not stand boldly.
Perhaps today something will happen and you will
have to make a choice either to speak up or be silent.
Even if nothing happens, remember that others are watching
to see if your faith is real, or if you are just ‘religious’.
Others observe your language, your anger, how you treat others, etc.
Make a decision today to stand up for Jesus from this day forward.