John 3:14-15 Strangely Dim Vipers

John 3:14-15

14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him.

The holy scriptures tell me to cast all my burdens on the Lord because He will sustain me. But that promise often feels like vapor in the wind, and I am anxious, but I believe God’s word. It is because I cast my concerns on my peers, seeking appreciation for my work for the Lord.  What I get is disappointment, and I rightly deserve it. Because the Lord deserves all the glory, not I. In John chapter 3, Jesus is having a late-night discussion with Nicodemus, a leading priest of the Pharisees. As a Pharisee, Nicodemus knows what story Jesus is referring to. In one book of Moses, Numbers, the people of Israel have an issue with God. Complaining to God and Moses, the Israelites said they had no water or food and had to eat miserable and horrible food.

 Numbers 21:5 So the people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we are disgusted with this miserable food.”

 This is a vain complaint by the Israelites because, for every complaint they made against God, He would answer and return with a blessing. In Exodus, chapter 15, for the first time, they complain of having no water to drink, So the Lord gives them sweet water. In the next chapter, they complain about having nothing to eat, so the Lord gives them bread from heaven (manna or angel bread) and quails. But it was only a short time after the Lord provided that they would complain to Him again. So, in Numbers 21, God sends venomous snakes against the Israelites. As they have bitten and start to die, they’re complaining against God and turn to shout to the Lord have mercy, and please save us. God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it high, and who was bitten to just look at it and will live. That story tells me I should not look at my peers or myself because we fall short of the Lord’s glory. The Lord is the one who can sustain me and the only one who can give me eternal life. God bless you all; Jesus the Son of Man loves you, and so do I, His humble bondservant Samuel Jerry Head.

Ecclesiastes 10:8 One who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite one who breaks through a wall. 9 One who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and one who splits logs may be endangered by them. 10 If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of bringing success. 11 If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no benefit for the charmer. 12 Words from the mouth of a wise person are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him; 13 the beginning of his talking is foolishness, and the end of it is evil insanity. 14 Yet the fool multiplies words. No person knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will come after him?