As we pull the curtains on this first month of the new year as well as this series, I want to take a peek into a wild story of crazy obedience and extreme consequence.
Joshua was a very strong and influential leader. He would take his followers to places they dreamed of and to things they never even knew they would experience. It was Joshua who God used to lead the Israelites into the promised land. It was Joshua who convinced his troops to take on an entire city with a strategy led by musical instruments played by priests. And it was also Joshua who persuaded his soldiers to get circumcised as grown men. WOW!!! Talk about an influencer!
God told Joshua that Jericho was theirs for the taking but needed to be approached with care and following specific directions. They were to march around the city 1 time each day for 6 days and then on the 7th day, march around 7 times. They would be led by priests playing these horns of rams and then on that last lap when the trumpets sounded, the people would shout.
They did, and what happened was miraculous and inexplicable. The giant wall of this fortified city just crumbled after the week of marching and that final shout. The Israelites then entered the city and took control, definitively destroying all of the inhabitants.
There was another part of the instruction and that was to destroy everything and bring the sacred things to the LORD. It was a symbol of trust and an offering of acknowledgement of who is providing.
God wants our faith in HIM alone, not the material things we possess, the status victories we achieve, or even the blessings He’s given us!
Achan, one of the Israelite soldiers, kept some of the treasure for personal use (deliberately breaking the directions of the LORD). Later, the Israelite army suffered a tragic blow when they took on a small military operation and their confidence was shaken. Joshua inquires of the LORD, concerned of God’s reputation, and God reveals that there is sin in the body. God addresses the Israelites as a whole, as one body. So, we can interpret this as a metaphor for our lives.
Achan means TROUBLER. In the story, the entirety of the TROUBLE within (Achan and his family and livestock) is removed permanently and the body is then whole again.
What’s this say about God, about us?
First, that it is necessary to remove the pieces within our being that are counter to the character of God. We must let God reveal them to us (as He did for Joshua finding out the one man responsible). Then, once we are convicted, we must purge the darkness. This is only possible by letting God continually have access to our heart and permission to search our souls and minds.
And second, the entire body is well when we’re ALL whole. There’s a saying “We’re not well until we’re ALL well.” This means that if an individual is sick, we’re all sick, and we have a responsibility to patiently, and lovingly, bring others along in their restoration process as much as our own.
So, what needs to be dealt with in your own world that is preventing you from experiencing the fullness of life God has for you. What are you hiding that is robbing you of the joy in which God wants you to live?
It’s my belief that God isn’t near as concerned with your success as He is with your progress.
And if you digress, He will patiently wait for your request to arrest your recess from grace and sit with you in your mess until your breaths express the transcendence!!
#Bakin’Achan
#DoubleTrouble
#DirectionConnection
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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