Thursday, June 14, 2012

FOLLOWING GOD'S DIRECTIONS


Still Joshua 3!

            Did you notice this when you read Joshua 3?  “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God…follow it” (Joshua 3:3).  When were the people to move out?  When they saw the ark proceeding!  Not one of the Israelites was told to go ahead of the ark.  Not even Joshua.  The ark of the Lord went first and as soon as the people saw it moving they were to follow.  The really enthusiastic Hebrews might have been tempted to rush ahead and show how brave and faithful they were.  Maybe they wanted to jump into the river and start swimming across.  That would have been wrong.  That would have been fatal self-dependence, not faith.  When we keep asking the questions about what God wants us to do with our lives and about what God’s will is for our lives it is like we are running ahead and jumping into the river.  We are rushing ahead of God.  It is when we run ahead of the Lord that we fall and fail.  I used to hate it when we bought something for one of our sons that was in a box with the warning, “Some assembly required.”  I knew what that meant.  It meant I would be up all night on Christmas Eve trying to find the right tools and trying to follow incomprehensible instructions.  It was so frustrating!  Inevitably I would get to a point where I would think I knew where parts went and would stop looking at the directions.  You know what would happen.  It would never look quite like the picture on the box and I would always have a few pieces left over. I didn’t know where they went.  That’s kind of like what happens when we rush ahead of God and fail to wait on him to show us the way he wants us to go!

            Neither were the Hebrews to hesitate once they saw the ark moving.  They were not supposed to sit and wait to see who was going to go first.  They were to obey the word of God and follow the ark.  They were to step out in faith.  If they hesitated they would be showing a lack of faith in God.  When God shows us what he wants us to do we must do it without hesitation.  If we stall we fall!  I hate the feeling of guilt I have when I neglect an opportunity to do something God urged me to do.  Do you know that feeling?  You know, it’s when you just feel in your heart that you’re supposed to do something for someone or say something to someone and you don’t do it.  That makes me feel so bad!  Remember the old saying, “He who hesitates is lost.”  When we look at that statement in a spiritual context we know there is truth in it.  If any of the Hebrews hesitated to cross behind the ark they would have been permanently stranded on the other side of the river!  They would have been left out.  Sometimes the offer of the gospel is like this.  You hear the way of salvation.  You hear the call to trust Christ and follow him.  Hesitation could be eternally fatal!  If you hear the word of God urging you to take a step of faith and trust in Christ do not put it off.  You never know if you will have the opportunity to hear the gospel again!

            Neither were the Hebrews allowed to try to find another way across the river.  God was going ahead of them.  His way was the only way.  If they tried another route it would have been fatal.  Do you want to know what God has for you?  Then follow him!  When he leads us into the unknown it is an adventure without equal because we will discover the great things God has for us!  There is no other way.  The same is true with the doctrine of salvation.  There is only one way to a right relationship with God and that is through Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).  Peter said, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).  People say, “We all have our own way to God, our own means of salvation.”  That is not true!  That is a fatal error and yet another lie of the devil.  There is no other way to God except through Jesus.  And there is no other way to living in God’s will than to follow God’s way!

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