Numbers 16:35

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"Consumed the two hundred and fifty wen that offered incense." Num 16:35

No man is indispensable to God. Better that incense be not offered than that the censer be swung with unworthy hands. Officialism does not necessarily involve personal fitness. Incense does not disinfect corrupt hearts. The man, not the censer, is the standard of determination. Officialism in the Church often destroys the sensitiveness of the heart. What is true of officialism is true of any repetition that ends in familiarity. Mechanical religion is easily acquired; it is merely a trick of the hand, it is not the sacrifice of the heart. God's anger burns most hotly against unfaithful leaders. He may be more angry with parents than with children, with preachers than with hearers, with the experienced than with the inexperienced. God relies not upon the number but upon the character of his servants. The removal of two hundred and fifty men was a serious numerical loss, but as to character, quality, and spiritual effectiveness, there was no loss whatever. The tree is the better for the cutting off of the dead branches. That which has ceased to be useful should cease to be cumbersome. When God looks through all his hosts that he may number and value them, he will cut off no man whose spirit is true, whose purpose is noble, and whose thought is steadfast. An awful picture presents itself to the imagination as we look back upon blighted ministries, unworthy characters, dishonoured servants, and the whole line of disaster and wreckage. Many who started well have brought upon themselves the consuming anger of God. The comforting thought is that in all this judgment and desolation God reveals his kingdom as a kingdom of righteousness, truth, and purity. "Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord."