"Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else" (Isaiah 45:22).

In this issue we have learned about how sunflowers look to the sky. Now I ask you, have you ever looked to God for salvation? I don't mean a prayer to ask God for help with a problem or for something you want; I mean, have you ever seen yourself as a lost, helpless sinner and cried to God to save you?

We read in the Bible about a time when the Israelites complained against God. This was after He had miraculously delivered them from Egypt and done many wonderful things for them. In Numbers 21 we read that the people said, "Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" (v.5). They complained about the manna, which He supernaturally and faithfully gave them for their food.

For this sin, we read that "the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died" (v.6). The people knew why the serpents were sent, so they went to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that He take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people" (v.7).

How did God answer this prayer? He told Moses to make a serpent out of brass and put it on a pole. God said, "It shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live" (v.8). So Moses did as the Lord commanded, and the people (possibly two million of them) were told that if anyone who was bitten would just look at the brass serpent which Moses had made, they would be healed. The Bible says, "It came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived" (v.9). If you had been bitten and were dying, would you have looked and lived? Or would you have doubted and died?

Are you perishing today? God's Word says that all unbelievers are perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18). "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). All men have been bitten by sin and spiritual death, and are facing both physical and eternal death: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

Jesus said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14,15). He was talking about the time when He would be lifted up high on the cross of Calvary and bear God's punishment for your sins and mine.

What has God done for you? He has done more than parting the Red Sea. He has done more than healing a snakebite. He has given His only Son to suffer and die for your sins and then raised Him from the dead! Think about it! God loves you so much that He did all this so you do not need to perish.

How can you be saved? Just like the smitten Israelites had to look at the brass serpent, you must look in faith to Jesus. You must turn around from your life away from God and trust Jesus Christ to be your Saviour. Will you look and live? If you do, Christ's words to you are: "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:28).