If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us. ~Numbers 14:8
Do you let your kids snoop around the Christmas tree, scoping out the presents? You can see them circling the brightly wrapped packages like hungry cats stealthily slinking around an unsuspecting mouse.
Have you found them picking up the packages that have their names on them and shaking them? Whether or not you allow this in your home, the undeniable truth is that all children want to know what’s under there for them.
Moses called together twelve men. He told them to sneak into Canaan, the land promised to Abraham a long time before. Moses asked these men to quietly slip into the promised land, shake it a few times, and come back with a report of what they thought was inside. The men came back with good news and bad news. “It’s an incredible place all right,” ten of them told Moses, “but it couldn’t be for us.”
“Good gift,” they might as well have been saying, “but our name is not on the tag.”
God had told the Israelites that this land was their future home (see v. 2). But these men came back from their visit to the Christmas tree to report that, although the gift was wonderful, they weren’t worthy of it.
I have a question: Does this story say something important about Canaan, or is it really talking about the men who visited it? Can you see it? Ten pathetic guys saw God’s spectacular provision and said to themselves, “This place is too incredible for us. We don’t deserve a gift—homeland—so fine, not to mention that it already has some giants’ names on the tag!”
But two courageous men stepped forward (see vv. 6–9). Daring to challenge the bad report from the cowards, Joshua and Caleb announced to the people, “The Lord . . . will bring us into this land. . . . Don’t rebel. . . . Don’t be afraid.”
God’s promises are sure. Even though there are many times when we look at His good gifts and cannot imagine something so fine for someone so undeserving, they are truly ours anyway. His gifts are ours because He said they are.
Go ahead and peek at the tag. I already know what it says. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (Jms 1:17).