THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 4, NUMBER 29, JULY 18, 2004

AM I LIKE THE ISRAELITES?

I looked in the mirror
And what did I see?
The Israelites in the wilderness
Looking back at me.

Why did they criticize?
Why did they complain?
Give me your attention
And I’ll try to explain.

In the land of Egypt
Their lives were spared,
The rise of Joseph
Showing how God truly cared.

In prosperity and number
They grew and grew
In the choice land of Goshen,
That God had brought them to.

At one hundred and ten
Joseph passed away
And with a different dynasty
Came a new day.

This pharaoh knew not Joseph
And cared not what he had done.
He saw the number of Israelites
And feared that trouble had begun.

He made slaves of Joseph’s people,
They labored from dawn to setting sun.
Bondage was their lot in life,
Unless something could be done.

God heard their cries of anguish,
To their pleas He turned His ears.
They would be delivered out of Egypt,
After 430 years

Moses was their leader,
A man of God was he.
They left the land of Goshen,
Headed toward the Red Sea.

Through the mighty hand of God
The waters did divide.
On a miracle of dry ground,
They passed to the other side.

God was clearly with them.
He showed this by parting the sea.
But as they turned toward Sinai,
On each of their minds was “ME!”

Why did they criticize and complain,
When from bondage they had been set free?
Listen carefully,
The answer lies within the word “ME”

Three days into the wilderness,
Bodies of Egyptians probably still washing to the shore,
They came to a place called Marah,
And complained, “God give ME more!”

Water God gave to them,
But it did not stop there.
When they complained of lack of food,
He gave them bread from the air.

They complained about Moses,
Said he brought them there to die.
They each thought of no one but themselves,
They didn’t even try.

We don’t like his leadership,
We don’t like this bread.
They didn’t want to listen
To the things that God had said.

We can’t take the land of Canaan,
The people are too strong.
Thus cried the Israelites in the wilderness,
They thought God had it all wrong.

Let’s not be too hard on these people,
Even though they failed God’s love to see,
Because each and every one of us,
Must fight that dreaded word “ME.”

Every complaint that people offer,
All the nasty things that people say,
Almost every single one of them,
Begins the exact same way.

What about MY rights?
He didn’t talk to ME.
I don’t like this and I don’t like that,
I’M number one, don’t you see?

If all would simply realize
That a servant of God and others we are to be,
There would be so many less hurt feelings,
Harsh words to hear or tears to see.

So let’s all try to understand,
That complaints and troubles don’t need to be,
If all of us will truly believe,
That the most important person is not “ME.”

Greg Litmer