When God deals with His children He doesn’t forget discipline. When we break His law, that law will break us. Obedience keeps us in the place of blessing. This is portrayed in the history of the Hebrew people. Vital questions we all face in life are answered in the historical books, beginning with Joshua.
We see how God works in individual lives and among His people. The bad examples warn us. The good examples inspire us. Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 10:11, “All these things are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
Likewise, the poet Longfellow wrote,
“Though the mills of God grind slowly, Yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all.”
So let’s pick up with our reading through the Bible by looking at the book of Joshua. There are thousands of promises in the Bible made by God to man. Each promise is a gift to be received. How do we do this? In Joshua you’ll find first that God demands faith, expressed in explicit obedience, even when His instructions seem odd, as at Jericho.
Then God demands sinless obedience. Achan reminds us that all sin must be dealt with before we can possess God’s promises.
Finally, God demands selfless and slack-less obedience (Joshua 18:3). Never stop short of fully possessing the promise or it will elude you. Learn the promises God has made to you in the Bible. Then trust Him to fulfill them in you as you wholeheartedly obey Him.
