Numbers 11:5-6 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

It’s kind of an old trope that people reach a certain age and talk about ‘the old days.’ Things were great back then! Why, I remember going through the drive through at McDonald’s after school and getting a Quarter Pounder with cheese combo for $2.10 including tax! But, of course, lost in those reminiscences is all of the hardships and difficulties that also were present.

It had been a year since the Israelites had left Egypt. For much of that time they had been at Mt Sinai, but now they had resumed their journey to the Promised Land. They had no question of the leading of God - they could all see the pillars of cloud and fire! And though they were in the desert, they did not have to worry about their food. God provided, daily, manna for them. They had it all!

Or not. Because some of them began to think about the ‘good old days’ when they were back in Egypt. How they enjoyed the fish! And a wide variety of vegetables! It was so good, and they ate so freely!

Freely? Except for the chains of slavery. The forced labor. The Pharaoh demanding they kill their own children. Other than that, they felt it was quite enjoyable! But, of course, in their complaining they didn’t consider those things.

When we give our heart to the Lord, He does ask us to repent. To turn and go a new direction. This means that we will leave behind old ways of doing things. Some of those things were fun! But God doesn’t call us to leave things that are fun or pleasurable because He is anti-fun or anti-pleasure. He calls us to leave them because they are bad for us. We become enslaved to sin. Slaves with no hope for the future.

But now God has set me free to live life in a new way. I need to keep my eyes on Christ and not what’s behind me. I may not look back to my previous life and think wistfully about leeks and onions! But I must be careful not to look back at all! What God saved me from does not compare with what He has saved me for! As Paul wrote to the Philippians:

but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

 

Blessings,

Pastor Russ