Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.    John 3:14-16 HCSB

We should never take sin lightly. Nor should we lie to ourselves and think that God takes sin lightly because He doesn’t. Sin is serious business. We are told the wages of sin are death in Romans 6:23, but in the same verse, we are told the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

In Numbers chapter 21, the Israelites did what they always did: they complained against God and Moses. Normally, this would lead to God getting angry and wanting to destroy them. Then Moses would pray for them, and God would relent. They would do okay for a while, and the cycle would repeat itself.

This time, things would be different. They complained as usual, but this time God gave no warning. He simply sent these fiery serpents into the camp. They began to bite the people, and many people died. Moses prayed for the people. God could have removed the serpents, but He didn’t. He told Moses to build a bronze serpent and put it up on a pole where everyone could see it. He told Moses that anyone bitten by one of the fiery serpents could look upon the bronze serpent and live.

The Israelites had once again sinned against the Lord and caused Him to bring His wrath against them in the form of these fiery serpents. We serve a just God. If you go to a church and the pastor tells you sin is no big deal to God, find another church. God takes sin very seriously.

In John 3:14-15, Jesus speaks of how the bronze snake provided a way for those who had sinned to be cured just as He is the way for us to be cured when we have sinned. Jesus was lifted up. This term in Jesus’ day referred to crucifixion. So, just as the bronze snake was lifted up on the pole, Jesus was lifted up or crucified.

The bronze snake was on that pole for everyone to see all they had to do was look at it and be healed. Jesus is here for all of us, we just have to focus on Him. He is the cure for our sinful past. He provides salvation. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life and no man comes to the Father except through Me.”

If you were gravely ill and suffering and your doctor prescribed a simple, readily available cure, would you try it? When it comes to the sickness of our sin, Jesus is our cure. He is the only way we can be cured from the suffering brought on by sin.

Many times, however, we don’t want to accept Christ because we are happy in our sin. We fear what we will have to give up. Christ gave His life to save us. He wants good for us. When we accept Him as our Savior, we have all we need. I can tell you from personal experience you won’t miss anything you give up being in a closer relationship with Him.

Look to Him and be saved. Keep your focus on Him and stay in a close relationship with Him. You won’t be sorry you did.

Have a great day!