To Err is Human - Numbers 20:1-13

Alexander Pope once said, "To Err is Human...". How true this is! When I read this passage I am amazed at how one of God's greatest prophets - Moses - had made a grave error before the Lord. He was told to speak to the rock to bring forth water, instead he decided to take matters into his own hands and spoke poorly against the people and struck the rock with his staff/rod. This error caused God to bring forth judgement upon Moses and Aaron, and they were not allowed access into the Promised Land.

This is not the only example of God's chosen people making big mistakes. David, whom God had said was a "man after His own heart", slept with a woman then killed her husband to cover up for it. That's a pretty big mistake! Peter, whom God used to build His own church, denied Christ three times in one night. Throughout the Bible, we see people messing things up, and God still using them. I think this shows us that God realizes we are in a fallen state. He understands that we are not capable of living a perfect life. That is why He sent Jesus!

Does this mean that we are free to do whatever because we're going to mess up anyway? Absolutely not! A quote I use with my youth a lot is this: "We are not called to be perfect; we are just called to strive for it!". God knows we are going to miss the mark every once in a while - or more realistically every day - but He still chooses to love us. That is the amazing thing! We are no-good, law-breaking, lying, thieving, little wild children that live in a sin-filled, sin-loving world; but yet Christ still died for us. That shows the love of God in one action. We will never be able to comprehend the love that He has for us. That would be almost like a Jew dying to save Hitler's life. Or like a victim of 9/11's family member dying to save Osama Bin Laden's life. It is incomprehensible - yet it is reality!

God loves us that much - you and I - and that in itself should be enough to strive as hard as we can. The full quote goes like this: "To Err is human; to forgive, divine." How true it is!