Associate Producers Kirsty Keith of Edmonton Podcast Introduction This is episode s12e250! Yay! Our reading today Numbers 13-16. After the reading, I’ll have some comments for you. I’m calling today’s episode “Stubborn.”   Design: Steve Webb | Photo: Zbynek Burival on Unsplash Comments on Numbers 16 Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. Korah leads a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, and God causes the ground to swallow up all those associated with him. And the people saw and knew that it was the Lord who did it, and that the Lord was confirming that Moses was his chosen leader for them. But the very next day the entire nation of Israel came against Moses and Aaron again! saying they “killed the people of the Lord.” Hello? Were you not listening? So once again God was prepared to wipe them all out with a plague. But Moses, with a pastor’s heart, told Aaron to quickly prepare a sacrifice for the people, and they stopped the plague before it killed everyone.  I remember the first time I tried to read through the Bible (unsuccessfully, I might add). I had only been a Christian for about five years at this point. I said, “Right after God does something miraculous, they turn their backs on Him! How can these people be so dumb?” And the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “You do the same thing.” Beloved, we are so much like the children of Israel. How many times have we seen God’s will, either through God’s word, a message from the pastor, or the Holy Spirit speaks to our heart, and then we, in our rebellion, go the opposite way? Multiple times. And yet, the blood that Jesus shed on the cross brings forgiveness to us again and again. His sacrifice paid the price, once…for all.  God knows that we are a stubborn lot. He knows that just because we know right from wrong does not mean that we will always choose what’s right. That is why He paid such an enormous price for us. Because the debt was so huge, the payment had to be inconceivably large. It took the brutal death of His only begotten Son to bring atonement for my sins, and for yours. It is nearly unthinkable, but as Hebrews 9:22 says, “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (of sins). We can never repay the debt. All we can do is give all we can. And all we have is all we are. All I have…is me. I came into the world naked, and naked I will go out. The best I can do is give my life to Him in the time between those two events. I cannot earn salvation. I cannot pay Him back. I can only give my life back to Him in gratitude and love. And this I freely choose to do.