After receiving God's laws and
decrees the Israelites were ready to move on and conquer their
Promised Land. They have been camping at Mount Sinai for quite some
time and I am certain that they were eager to get moving. But first
God instructed them to take a census.
'Take a census of the whole
community of Israel by their clans and families. List the names of
all the men twenty years old or older who are able to go to war.
You and Aaron are to direct the project, assisted by one family
leader from each tribe.' Leviticus 1:2 - 4
Now as you might imagine, a census
was a tedious and long process and I can just visualize that it was
the last thing that most Israelites wanted at this point. They most
probably wanted to get going and to settle in their new beautiful
land. They were tired of camping out in the desert. But the census
was necessary. It was necessary to do because they had to assess
Israel's military strength before engaging in battle, but more than
that they needed to determine the sizes of the different tribes in
order to be able to divide the land fairly amongst them. This
information was needed to organize the Promised Land amongst the
tribes.
Now of course God knew how many
they were and He could have divided the land between them and
helped to organize the land, but sometimes He wants us to
participate and do our part as well, like the Israelites had to do
here. Now after the census they also knew the numbers of their
tribes and shouldn't later feel that they have been allocated the
smallest portion of the land even though they were the smallest
tribe. It also gave them a sense of dignity and participation in
the process.
Sometimes when we reach cross roads
in our lives, we should first consult God and ask Him what His will
is and then we need to take inventory of our lives just like the
census of old. For example sit calmly and write down what is going
on in your life, what is your present position concerning your
family, how healthy is your spiritual life, are you making enough
time for what is truly important, what is your strong points that
God can use etcetera. Sit down and realize where you are at the
moment and look up to God to see where He wants you to be. Ask Him
for guidance and ask Him how you can use what you have to His
glory. And also ask Him where you need to change. Obvious things
would be to improve your spiritual life and to spend more time with
Him, but when it comes to the less obvious things like which job to
choose, spend some time on your knees praying and ask Him to help
you and lead you to your Promised Land. When we do our part, God
does His.
Father only You know what is best
for us. Help us and guide us with Your Holy Spirit to see clearly
what You want us to do and what Your perfect plan for our lives is.
We hand our lives over to You. Amen