August 6, 2026
Thursday, August 6
How did the Israelites do in their training? Not great. Some of the people didn’t trust God to supply manna every day. They hoarded some for the future, and when they woke up, their stash of manna was full of maggots. Some got up early on the Sabbath day looking for manna, even though God said there wouldn’t be any that day. But God didn’t destroy them. He kept on training them. Then in Exodus 17, the people’s rebellion intensified.
All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
Stoning wasn’t just a way to kill someone. It was an execution for a crime. They are saying to Moses, “You are a murderer. You’ve led us out here to die of thirst, so you deserve to be executed as a cold-blooded killer.” Moses had come to them months before, at great personal risk, and led them to freedom. He had demonstrated God’s power in numerous ways. Nothing God said through Him had failed to materialize, so they had every reason to believe he was leading them to the Promised Land. What led to this disastrous, homicidal turn?
Notice the language the people use in both stories. In chapter 16, when they say, “We had it better in Egypt,” that’s the language of addiction. In chapter 17, when they say, “Give us water to drink,” that’s the language of entitlement. If you want to know what causes us to backslide today, this is a good place to start. Today and tomorrow, we’ll look at evidence for those same qualities in ourselves. And Saturday, we’ll uncover the solution.
Addiction: After I had been pastoring for only a few years, I noticed something about Christians who committed the same sins over and over, no matter how many people they hurt. It hit me that their behavior was like that of an alcoholic who says, “I’ll quit drinking someday. Just not today.” I’m sure a doctor would tell me that most sins aren’t addictive in the same way that drugs or alcohol are. And they’re right. No one becomes chemically dependent on lying, gossiping, or stealing, the way they might be on heroin or painkillers. But for a Christian, sin is like addiction in this way: We know it’s wrong. We know we should stop. But we lie to ourselves. We make excuses. We minimize our sin’s severity. We become judgmental, focusing on the sins of others so we can feel righteous by comparison. And one day we wake up, and we’ve caused damage that can’t be repaired. Jim Denison was right when he wrote, “Sin will always take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay.” Now is the time to be honest about the sin in your life.
“Lord God, please send your Holy Spirit to root out the hidden sin in my life. Intervene in all the dark places where I have stashed away my rebellion. Expose my excuses and show me how ridiculous they are. Cleanse me, and lead me in the way that is everlasting. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
