The Story: Chapter 7 The Bible: Joshua
Let’s begin with review that Israel has now entered the Promised Land. Many conflicts and battles have been won to settle the land allotted to each tribe. Through it all, there were times of obediently following God’s will, and times of disobedience which always resulted in trouble and failure. Joshua’s task is over and now he will turn leadership responsibilities over to each tribe. Yet the “on again / off again” nature of the Israelites obedience to God is of major concern to Joshua as he gives his farewell commands.
Joshua 24:14 Now obey the LORD and worship him with integrity and loyalty.
Notice the Israelite’s first response:
Joshua 24:16 and 18b The people responded, “Far be it from us to abandon the LORD so we can worship other gods! …So we too will worship the LORD, for he is our God!”
Notice their focus was on worship, which was truly good—but they missed the first part of Joshua’s command to obey. Obedience had been their primary weakness all along. They were great worshippers, but along the way they also absorbed the worship of other gods. To make the commitment to worship God was a great start, but Joshua knew it wouldn’t be enough to keep them from backsliding because he knew they needed to recognize their failure to obey.
Joshua 24:19-20 Joshua warned the people, “You will not keep worshiping the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God who will not forgive your rebellion or your sins. If you abandon the LORD and worship foreign gods, he will turn against you; he will bring disaster on you and destroy you, through he once treated you well.”
But the people still didn’t catch on:
Joshua 24:21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will worship the LORD.”
The people still are focused on the worship activity, but failing to acknowledge their need for obedience—specifically, to clear away all the foreign gods they have accumulated along the way. Joshua must tell them specifically (v 23) “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to the LORD God of Israel.”
Finally, they “get it.” Now Israel finally responds:
Joshua 24:24 The people said to Joshua, “We will worship the LORD our God and obey him.”
This is our lesson today. It isn’t enough to claim the LORD as our God unless we are willing to obey His Word.
Today’s Prayer Suggestion: Ask your Heavenly Father to help you identify any areas of your life that still need to be submitted to Him; any areas where you still need to follow in obedience to His written Word.
The devotional Remember Obedience appeared first on Write From My Heart at
https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com
Email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com
The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright © 1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
General format for WFMH devotionals will follow the pattern of chapters outlined in The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, M. Lucado & R. Frazee, Zondervan, 2005, 2008, 2011.
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