Friday, October 24, 2008

Friday's devotion - Am I in trouble????!!!

Our next RCG lesson is about Deborah so I decided our devotions will be about what happened from the fall of Jericho till the story of Deborah. That sounds good to me!
When Joshua and the children of Israel faced Jericho, God told them not to take any of the spoils (the loot of the city) for themselves. They had to give all the gold and silver and precious metals for the Temple they would someday build. Achan sinned and took some of the spoils. He hid them under his tent and noone knew except God.
They came to the next city which was Ai. (Read Joshua 7) Joshua sent our spies to check our the strength of the city. The spies came back saying that it would only take a few thousand warriors to take Ai because it was so small. So they took 3,000 men and were surprisingly defeated. When Joshua found out he cried out to God and asked him why this happened. God answered him and said it was because someone sinned and took what He had told them not to take. God called all the people together and exposed the sinner, Achan. Amazingly Achan's name means "trouble". They found out he had seen this Babylonian garment, some silver and gold and took it. God told the people to stone him with stones and burn him with fire. Then they buried him under a heap of stones as a memorial so they wouldn't forget.
What does this mean to us? Jericho was the tithe. There were 10 cities they were going to take and Jerich was the first. God said that the first tenth goes to him. If it doesn't and we refuse to give God the tenth? It looks like we get trouble and when we go against our enemy we get defeated. It is just a whole lot better if we obey God. What Achan didn't know was that all the rest of the battles they fought, they would get to keep the spoils. He would have gotten 9 times what he took the first time and he would have gotten to live. God's ways are always to prosper us and for our good. The key is in obeying and waiting for His timing.
Lord, help us hear your voice and obey. Give us hearts to give to you all that we have. Help us to trust you completly and wait on your timing.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a good point about Achan not being able to see around the corner. God asks from us 100%, and we think, "That doesn't seem fair!" But in truth, he is asking us to put ourselves in a place of blessing. Was that coat so pretty and the gold so shiny as to cause the defeat of Israel's army and the destruction of Achan's family? A holy fear of God and a yearning for His promises should help to keep our hearts in line.

Ginny's gems said...

Great point. I wonder what the coat, the gold, and the silver is in my life? Surely not worth it!