TEXT: Numbers 13:17-33; 14:1-9, 36-38

How would you like to be a spy? Wouldn’t it be exciting to be sent on a secret mission? What if you were sent to a faraway place and told to search through the land? You would have to take notes and then report back to the person who sent you. That person would expect you to tell carefully about everything that you had seen and heard. Do you think you would have a hard time remembering everything?

A spy has to be a very special person. He must be someone who can be trusted, someone who will obey orders and bring back a true report. A spy must be brave and strong, not afraid and weak.

Many years ago, God gave special instructions to Moses, the leader of the Children of Israel. Moses was to choose twelve spies to go into the land of Canaan and look all around. Their job would be to find out all about the country. Was it a good land or bad? How large were the cities? How many people lived in the land? The spies were also told to bring back some of the fruit that was grown in Canaan. They were to show this fruit to Moses and the people.

Among the twelve spies chosen by Moses, were Joshua and Caleb. Both were men who loved and trusted God. They believed God and obeyed Him.

For forty days the spies searched through the land of Canaan. They must have been excited by what they found. The land was beautiful. It had flowing rivers and lots of trees and good fruit. When it was time to leave, the men cut down one cluster of grapes to take back to Moses. That cluster was so big that it took two strong men to carry it!

The twelve spies told Moses that everything was exactly like God had said it would be. But ten of the spies were afraid. When they looked at the land they saw the high-walled cities and the people of the land who looked like giants. Those ten spies said, “We cannot take this land! We are not able to do it.” They forgot that God had promised to help them. They forgot that God had said the land would be theirs.

Joshua and Caleb didn’t forget. They trusted God and knew He would give them the land. Caleb told Moses and the people, “We can take this land! God is on our side.” But the people were afraid. They listened to the other ten spies. They didn’t believe Joshua and Caleb. They, too, forgot God’s promise.

Many years later Joshua and Caleb were the only two of those twelve spies who went into the promised land with the Children of Israel.

Joshua and Caleb were the two brave spies who brought back a good report of the promised land. Even though the other ten spies were fearful of the high-walled cities and the giants who  inhabited the land, these two men had the courage to say that they knew that with God’s help the land could be taken.

Discuss with your child the fact that sometimes things look  difficult or impos­sible by man’s judgment. But God has all power, and we should trust Him.

To reinforce this thought, let your child make a heart puzzle.  Draw a large heart shape on a piece of construction paper. Tell your child to mark it into sixteen puzzle pieces. On each piece have him write one word from the memory verse, including the reference. He can cut the puzzle apart on the lines he has drawn, and then reas­semble it as he learns the verse.

FAMILY DEVOTIONS