Above the Rabble

“The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing…‘We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost…’” Numbers 11:4-5.

The Israelites at this point had seen the plagues that God supernaturally sent for their deliverance out of slavery.  They stood before the Red Sea and witnessed the parting of those great waters.  They marched on dry ground feeling the mist from the power of the walls of water on each side.  They experienced the wonderful taste of freedom that they never had before.  And yet they made the two devastating mistakes that we still make today…they allowed the rabble (the non-Israelites) to remain in their lives, and they began romanticizing their life before deliverance.  With all the divine miracles that they had experienced it was still not enough to cultivate faith, trust and genuine gratitude.  They reminisced about their past life and forgot the price they paid.  Their memory doesn’t include the beatings, the long hours, the ruthless behavior of the Egyptians.  All they know is that this new life is not all that it’s cracked up to be.  ‘Yet just like the Israelites, we are prone to complain that we don't have enough. Prone to want more than what's been provided, to crave what we don't have rather than be thankful for what we do. Contentment and thankfulness is so important to a joyful life.’ www.lechemforleaders.com

We cannot expect to surround ourselves with those people who do not pursue a relationship with God, and remain grateful and committed to Him.  The rabble will convince us that our life is one of rules and regulations, giving up the fun things of the past.  They will cause us to look at the things we have lost instead of the blessings we have gained.  We will begin to see our present life through the eyes of discontent and less than abundant living.  Christ tells us that when we truly and completely follow Him, we will live in freedom.  We will not surround ourselves with the crude and irreverent media as it comes into our very homes.  We will not attend parties that focus on past appetites, nor chase dreams of the flesh. 

When we really get the truth that Christ paid it all and we paid nothing …and genuinely apply it to our hearts… we will see everything through the lens of deep humility and overwhelming gratitude.  If we find ourselves yearning for that same old sin or attitude it is because we are not truly walking in the freedom of Christ and the knowledge of the price He paid.

‘It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.’