December 31, 2022

Passage Read: Joshua 6-9
Meditation Verse: 7:7

Thought

So quickly Joshua goes from knowing the Lord had promised them this land and told them to go in (they crossed the Jordan in miraculous fashion!) to conviction that they had sinned against the Lord and He intended to destroy them for their greed. Someone among them had sinned against the Lord, and the Lord intended for the community to put that man to death, but He had not overthrown His stated purpose for Israel to give them the land. How quick am I to cast God as the villain, though correct to see Him as the bringer of consequence because of my sin, when things go wrong in my life. God's goal has never been to trick me or anyone else into becoming liable to judgment and death; His goal has always been to teach us and motivate us to do what is good and right. That includes punishing some who sin quickly and decisively, but also showing mercy to many who sin by delaying or lessening their punishment in order for them to find a way to atone for their sin if they are truly repentant.

Application

If I sin against God and He brings punishment or discipline into my life, that doesn't make Him somehow my enemy (even justifiably so). He is only my enemy if I am His and dead set against doing what He requires. Even then, He gives grace to most who set themselves as His enemy by giving them chance after chance to repent and turn to Him. He's not after my destruction but my repentance, submission and obedience. If I am teachable, He's never out for my destruction, but only for my training. So if something comes up to indicate I've sinned, I just need to humbly seek Him and find out what He desires to change in me.