At some point in the journey of the children of Israel in the wilderness, God was fed up with their many evils. They murmured over everything and at every turn of events. They disobeyed the Lord’s instructions concerning the manna. They turned to idolatry while Moses was receiving the commandments on the Mount. These attitudes resulted in God’s determination to wipe them out. God broached the idea with Moses, promising to make him a greater nation. Moses showed no interest in that proposal. Instead, he pleaded for the children of Israel. He also reasoned with God that if He carried out His threat, the heathen nations would misread His actions. They would think that God ran out of resources to lead them to the promised land. Numbers 14:20 was God’s response to Moses’ plea – “Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, according to your word”.

“If God listens to others, we ought to do so much more.”

This long narration shows that God was not close-minded. We see another instance where God showed His open-mindedness. It was when He plotted the elimination of Ahab. A council sat in heaven where God welcomed ideas. He wanted to know who would persuade Ahab to go to the battle and be killed. God went with the spirit with the smartest idea. Here is the point: if the Almighty God who is omniscient and omnipresent is open to inputs of men and spirits, we will be doing a disservice to ourselves by closing up. To be close-minded is to be resistant to new ideas and perspectives. People with this attitude often find it difficult to consider the opinions of others or give room for alternative viewpoints. No one can be smarter than God. If God listens to others, we ought to do so much more.