THE MAIN IDEA
Our faith is made real when we follow Jesus Christ. 

FOLLOWING CHRIST COMES WITH TESTING
After forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites were getting close to the final leg of their journey to the promised land. But God did not allow the Israelites to pass through Edom in order to test the new generation of  Israelites—not to test whether they were saved or not, but to refine, purify, and strengthen them, as with precious metals. But the Israelites respond to the testing by complaining once again against Moses and against God about the lack of food and water—even when God had faithfully provided them with food and water for forty years. Sometimes complaints are justified, but  habitual complaining is bad for four reasons. (1) It causes depression. (2) It makes for a poor  Christian witness. (3) It destroys churches. And (4) It grieves the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:29- 30). God tests us, in part, to break our habit of complaining and to build our habit of positive thinking, so that the peace of God would be ours (Philippians 4:8-9). 

FOLLOWING CHRIST COMES WITH DISCIPLINE
God’s world operates according to God’s rules. And according to God’s rules, we do reap what we sow. For the Israelites, their complaining near the end of their forty-year journey in the wilderness was a life-and-death matter for the entire community. The nation was on the verge of entering into the promised land, and it was critical for every single person to demonstrate their complete trust in God for the sake of the entire community. But the generation that came out of Egypt was constantly grumbling  and complaining. So God sent poisonous snakes into their midst not simply to purify the Israelites, but also to discipline the Israelites in order to prepare them to take possession of the promised land—to teach them to be united in their trust in God. Discipline is a difficult topic to talk about. Nobody likes to be disciplined. And probably, nobody thinks that they deserve the discipline that they receive. But in the end, discipline is good for us, and it is necessary for our spiritual growth. 

FOLLOWING CHRIST COMES WITH SALVATION
The Israelites repent of their sin  almost immediately, but not after many had already died. They plead with Moses to intercede for  them, which he does. Then God tells Moses to make a bronze snake and to put it on a pole, and  whoever is bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and they would live. Of course, the  snakes were still out there biting the people. But as long as they looked to the bronze snake, they  would not die. The word “look” means to look with faith, knowing that God is the source of  salvation, not the bronze snake itself. But the bronze snake eventually became an idol for the  Israelites. The human heart is so prone to idolatry. The Israelites came to idolize everything that  God gave to them for atonement and redemption. So God tore all of that down and lifted up His  one and only Son as the object and source of our salvation. Even then we can be tempted to  worship the objects and the disciplines of our faith instead of Jesus Christ the Person. He is the  source of our salvation. That is important for us, because sin and its consequences are  continually before us us (Psalm 51:3). And so, we must continually turn to Christ and the saving  work of Christ in order to be healed. The grace and mercy of God in Christ Jesus is what saves  us. The grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ is what makes our faith real. 

DISCUSSION QUESTION:
What can you do to tear down the habit of complaining and build up the habit  of positive thinking in your life?