Author: Scott

And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” Numbers 16:20 Back when I drank, I enjoyed ice fishing. Or, rather, I should say that I enjoyed the environment of ice fishing. My wife never came out to the fish…
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And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. Numbers 15:39 I didn’t get addicted to opioids on purpose. I didn’t start out planning…
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While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. Numbers 15:32 To pay the bills in college, I waited tables at an Italian restaurant where we served wine, poured from a box kept back in the cooler. I remember the first time I poured myself…
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If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. Numbers 15:27 My first exposure to opioids came in my fourth year of medical school after a surgery to remove a thyroid cancer. Postoperatively, I got a prescription for opioid pain pills and immediately fell in love…
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Do not go up, for the LORD is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. Numbers 14:42 When my addiction came to light and I lost my job, my wife was understandably hurt and angry. I’d shattered her trust in me, robbed her any sense of security she ever had, and…
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And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. Numbers 14:33 I wrote yesterday about the pain we inflict upon ourselves in following our own way instead of God’s. Sin, by definition, is doing that which…
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None of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. Numbers 14:22-23 There was a…
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Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now. Numbers 14:19 Many years ago, I read a couple of books written by atheists because I wanted to know what objections they had to my faith. One author attacked…
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“Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Numbers 14:9-10 Sometimes, in my head, I play What if. When I read a story in which a hero stands alone for something good and right, I wonder what…
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Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?…
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