Day Twelve: Joshua – Doing Things God’s Way
Today’s Reading: Hebrews 11:30; Joshua 6:1-21
Introduction: Joshua had the unenviable task of leading the people of Israel after Moses. He was personally commissioned by God with the task of leading the people into the Promised Land. God’s guidance for success was very specific, however. God told him two things. First, he needed to be “strong and courageous.” God said it three times to make sure Joshua got it (Joshua 1:6, 7, 9). The second thing was to “be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you” (1:7). Then God summed it up with “Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (1:9).
Joshua was promised success if he did things God’s way. And, God delivered just as He promised. The most amazing achievement of them all was the way God defeated the people of the great walled city of Jericho. All they had to do was march around the city, blowing their trumpets and shouting. God used that to make the walls of the city collapse. It was an amazing victory, accomplished according to the Lord’s command. The only time the people failed was when a man named Achan disobeyed God’s command to destroy everything at Jericho. Greed got the best of him. They were defeated in their next battle at a little town called Ai as a result. To have such success at the great city of Jericho and then to follow that up with a humiliating defeat at the relatively insignificant town of Ai would have been very demoralizing. They got that sorted out and dealt with the man who had violated God’s command and then went on to victory after victory.
Application: Regardless of who we are and how gifted we are, our success in God’s calling requires our obedience. Some people manage to force things through by the sheer determination of their will, but this is not success in the eyes of God. And such successes are seldom without long-term problems. If we have been called by God to a task, commit ourselves to live faithfully before Him to the best of our ability, and give ourselves without fear to our calling, our success at what God wants us to do is assured.
Prayer: Dear Lord, I want to serve You faithfully. I want to succeed at what You have called me to do. I cannot accomplish all that You want me to do without Your help. Thank You for being there with me and for me. I commit to being as faithful to You as I can. Please show me areas of my life that I have not fully yielded to You yet and help me to surrender those areas so that You can show Yourself strong through my life and others can see the evidence of the hand of God in all that I do. Amen.