Everybody, what is going on? You know what time it is. You're listening to Join the Journey podcast with your host, Emma, daughter.

Thanks for joining. Today, we are reading number 17 through numbers 187, very specific. And if you haven't yet read, I'd encourage you to pause the episode and go check it out for yourself. And if you're driving or on the go, if you head over to join thejourney.com and click read with us, you can have

today's passage read to you. That said, number 17 and a little bit of 18 reminds us that we

desperately need reminders. And sometimes this surprises people, but believe it or not, I am one of

the most forgetful people on the planet. I'm sure of it. I feel like I've got to be in the top 10,

if not the top five. And in order to fight my forgetfulness, I'm often filling up the notes app on

my phone. I've got pages that only have one word written on them, just so I won't forget.

And I pulled out my iPhone, and I have actually 2,788 notes saved, and that's just in one of the folders.

So, yeah, I'm forgetful.

And I like the reminders feature on the iPhone, but I also keep my watch ahead a few minutes

just in case I forget something so that I'm less likely to be late because I'm always fighting

forgetfulness. And in today's Devo, Will McElroy reminds us that God's instruction can always be

trusted, but we've got to remember to trust it. He wrote in his

divo, What is so special about the budding staff? Why does God choose this as his miracle to remind

the people of his authority in goodness? And two reasons came to mind about why the budding staff

is significant. Will writes, first, the staff is a fitting symbol

for the priesthood that Aaron represented. Not only did the staff produce sprouts, but it also

budded flowers and produced fruit. This was a symbol that under Aaron's leadership and priesthood,

there would be fruit. Similarly, Christ has commanded us to bear fruit.

That's John 158. Christ is the vine, and as long as we are attached to the vine, we, as branches,

will bear fruit. Second, will continues, the budding staff is important because it proves once

again that God produces life when there would otherwise be death.

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