Numbers 21:4-9
From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Homily:
We are inclined to always complain about our situation.
No matter how good the situation is, we complain. No matter how bad the past was, we speak about it in glowing terms. We seek a new day, no matter how ugly it can get, we cannot wait for tomorrow.
God showed the people in the above passage, a simple truth – If you’re still alive, you should be thankful. When death came into the present and stared the people in the face, yesterday and tomorrow faded away. They became present, conscious and looked up to the symbol of the thin line between life and death, for them to survive.
When they were complaining about their situation and comparing it to death, they did not really know what death was. When we complain about our situation and compare it to the crumbling of our world, we do not really know what a crumbling world is.
Today, give thanks. You might not yet be in a land of milk and honey, but the path you’re on, is the only way to get there. Breathe and live. Be thankful.