Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”
Numbers 13:30-31
Continued from yesterday…
The only difference between those that delivered the majority and minority reports was internal (their perspective or attitude). Their differing reports reflected contrary attitudes toward the land, the divine promises, the people in Canaan, the work involved, God, and themselves. The majority disobeyed God, believed the land had no future, displayed cowardice based on fear, utterly ignored God in their report, and suffered from an inferiority complex. The result was that these ten naysayers spread anxiety throughout Israel’s camp. Their rotten attitudes infected the whole nation until the spiritual contagion could not be contained. Notice who got blamed for the nation’s response, “Our brethren have discouraged our hearts saying, ‘The people are greater than we’”. Through the negative majority report, this ancient commission deprived nearly two million people of their inheritance in Canaan. Through their poisonous influence, the Israelites were driven back into the wilderness to die, and God delayed in fulfilling His purpose for His chosen people for 40 frustrating years.
If only they had listened to the minority report! Consider their vastly better attitude: they obeyed God, insisted they should enter and possess the land, displayed courage rooted in faith, felt calm assurance, and saw themselves in relationship to God. The result was Caleb and Joshua stayed alive for a new era, while the other ten spies perished in the wilderness along the rest of the adults of that unbelieving generation.
Attitude makes all the difference. The development of a positive attitude is the first conscious step toward becoming an effective leader. Successful leadership cannot be constructed without this crucial building block. Take to heart the following seven attitude axioms exemplified by the words and actions of Joshua and Caleb: 1. Our attitude determines our approach to life. 2. Our attitude determines our relationships with people. 3. Our attitude is often the only difference between success and failure. 4. Our attitude at the beginning of a task will affect its outcome more than anything else. 5. Our attitude can turn problems into blessings. 6. Our attitude can give us an uncommonly positive perspective. 7. Our attitude is not automatically good just because we belong to God.
How’s your attitude? Is your thinking stinking? Do you need a check-up from the neck up?
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