Fri.’s Devo -Stay Salty

Read: Joshua 3:1-4:24; Luke 14:7-35; Psalm 80:1-19; Proverbs 12:27-28 Joshua led the people to the Jordan and they camped there for three days. The officers spread the news that when they saw the Levites carrying the Ark they were to follow, at a distance, in their positions. *** Joshua told the people to purify themselves because God was going to do something great and wonderful. God told Joshua that on that day, God was going to make him a great leader in the eyes of the people and they would know that the Lord was with him. *** Joshua told the people that today they would know that the living God was with them. He was the one who would drive out their enemies before them. They were to choose one man to represent their tribe. As soon as the feet of the priest touched the water, the water that was flowing downstream stood up like a wall. It began backing up at a town called Adam. On the other side, the water flowed down to the Dead Sea making a dry river bed in the middle. The priests stood in the middle of the riverbed and waited until all the people had crossed. *** In Adam, all man died; in the Dead Sea all die. They had to cross over and defeat, the fear of death to reach their promised land. We are delivered from the fear of death through Christ (Hebrews 2:15). The Ark represented Jesus, who stands in the middle of our fears holding back death and the fear of death so we can safely cross through. The priests represent us, the church who stand with Jesus to help others cross over death to be saved. *** The twelve men who had been pre-chosen were then told to take 12 stones from the place where the priests were standing and pile them up at the place where they would camp that night. They would set them up to remember what God did for them. Joshua set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan. *** The first to cross over were the armed warriors from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. They were fearless. The people followed and last of all, the priests crossed over to join the people. *** They crossed over on the 10th of Nissan the day that Jesus entered Jerusalem to be crucified and the day they would select their lamb for Passover. Joshua put his stones in Gilgal where they camped. *** In Luke, Jesus was invited to a dinner at the home of a leader of the Pharisees. He noticed how everyone was trying to sit in the seats of honor. He told them that they should instead, begin sitting at the lowest place and wait to be exalted to a higher position. He told the host, that the next time he put on a banquet he shouldn’t invite the people he knew, loved and wanted to impress, but to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. At the resurrection, God would reward him. *** One of the men sitting with Jesus heard this and loved it. (I wonder what the host thought about it.) *** Jesus then told the story of the man who did exactly what he had just described. He sent out invitations. The ones he first invited had excuses why they couldn’t come so he sent invitations out to the poor and desperate. He swore that the ones he first invited would not get even a taste of his banquet. *** Jesus told them that if they wanted to be his disciple, they must give up everything to follow him. He warned them to count the cost of following him because it would cost everything. *** We are to be the salt of the earth, so we have to be willing to do what it takes to stay salty. *** Lord, may we choose to give up our lives daily. May we do the things that uplift your Spirit inside us and keep us salty. May we daily put our “yes” on the table and walk through death to inherit life.