“Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, "There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you."”
Joshua 7:13 ESV
This is a familiar story(If it’s not a familiar story, spend time in the Old Testament. Incredible stories are found hidden in those pages.)
Joshua had led the children of Israel in a resounding defeat of Jericho by walking around the city walls 7 times and the walls collapsed. Their fame grew within the enemies in the Promise Land. Next on the list was Ai.
“”Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." And the men went up and spied out Ai.”
Joshua 7:2 ESV
The men came back and reported that they only needed about 3,000 men and not the whole army. This should have been an easy defeat. But much to their surprise, the men of Ai soundly defeated them! What happened?
One of the members of the Israelite army, Achan, saw treasures of the of Jericho and stole them and hid them in his tent. God had specifically said,
“Remember, we must destroy everything else. Don’t take anything. If you take anything and bring it into our camp, you yourselves will be destroyed, and you will cause trouble for the rest of our people.”
Joshua 6:18 ERV
Keep this in mind. The next time they attacked Ai,
“You will do to Ai and its king the same thing you did to Jericho and its king. Only this time you can take all the wealth and animals and keep it for yourselves. You will share the wealth with your people.””
Joshua 8:2 ERV
God does not say to turn away from all the good things here in earth. This story is not leading us to deny ourselves of all things that he provides. But when the world flashes money, entertainment, even food and tells us to make these our “devoted things” and our source of happiness, be careful. Only the Lord, and him alone, will be our source of joy and strength and wisdom.
I love that the Lord knows that we are weak and we need his help to fight our battles.
That's how we fight our battles
This is how I fight my battles
This is how I fight my battles
This is how I fight my battles
This is how I fight my battles
It may look like I'm surrounded
But I'm surrounded by You
It may look like I'm surrounded
But I'm surrounded by You
It may look like I'm surrounded
But I'm surrounded by You!
Lord, I’m surrounded by enemies to the right and to the left. But these battles are won when I lay aside the sin that so easily entangles me.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
Hebrews 12:1 ESV
Make a list of the “devoted things” that have been kept hidden in our tents. Get rid of these things that are nothing but cheap substitutes for the real treasures. There are battles ready to be won! Even better, we will gather up the crowns of our enemies and lay them at the feet of our Savior one day.
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