Joshua 3:13-14 "And it shall come to
pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the
LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the
waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and
they shall stand upon an heap. (14) And it came to pass, when the
people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing
the ark of the covenant before the people"
This may seem like an odd place to begin and end the Scripture for our devotion today, but I want to stop and meditate on something found in these two verses. First, I will say that we already know the waters are going to stand on a heap and the people are going to cross into the Promised Land. We will look at that on another day, but right now there are three things in these two verses that I believe are very important in the life of the Christian.
We read in verse 13, "And it shall come to pass." Then we read in verse 14, "And it came to pass." That struck me as a very important reminder this morning. God promised the people that indeed when the feet of the priests stepped into the water, the waters would be cut off. Then we read in verse 14, "and it came to pass." Can there be any doubt that God is true to His promises? He has proven Himself to be faithful time and again. There are so many times in the Scripture that we read, "And it came to pass." What does that mean to me this morning? Does it mean anything? I know for some the thought is that whatever takes place in our lives simply is there for a while. It comes. It passes. There is truth to that, but for me I see something much better. In those five words, I see that God is absolutely true to His Word. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to be in the Word of God to realize there are so many precious promises that He has made. When God says something is going to happen, you can know that it will "come to pass".
The next thing that I noticed in these two verses is the word, "when," that is found in verse 14. "And it shall come to pass." "And it came to pass"... "when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan."God made the promise to open the way for them to enter the land. What do you think would have happened if they had remained in their tents? It came to pass when they removed themselves from their tents. The thought that comes to me this morning is concerning my "comfort zone". Am I comfortable to remain in my tent when God has made so many promises that are actually conditioned upon my obedience to Him? Do I expect God to bless me when I am not prepared to follow Him? I say that if the people had not removed themselves, packed up their tents, and followed their commander, Joshua, they would not have experienced the blessing of walking beside a wall of water that God was holding back. If we pray for God to make the way and then we are hesitant to walk in the path He opens, we just might be robbing ourselves of a marvelous miraculous blessing.
"When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word
What a glory He sheds on our way.
When we do His good will, He abides with us still
and with all who will trust and obey."
This may seem like an odd place to begin and end the Scripture for our devotion today, but I want to stop and meditate on something found in these two verses. First, I will say that we already know the waters are going to stand on a heap and the people are going to cross into the Promised Land. We will look at that on another day, but right now there are three things in these two verses that I believe are very important in the life of the Christian.
We read in verse 13, "And it shall come to pass." Then we read in verse 14, "And it came to pass." That struck me as a very important reminder this morning. God promised the people that indeed when the feet of the priests stepped into the water, the waters would be cut off. Then we read in verse 14, "and it came to pass." Can there be any doubt that God is true to His promises? He has proven Himself to be faithful time and again. There are so many times in the Scripture that we read, "And it came to pass." What does that mean to me this morning? Does it mean anything? I know for some the thought is that whatever takes place in our lives simply is there for a while. It comes. It passes. There is truth to that, but for me I see something much better. In those five words, I see that God is absolutely true to His Word. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to be in the Word of God to realize there are so many precious promises that He has made. When God says something is going to happen, you can know that it will "come to pass".
The next thing that I noticed in these two verses is the word, "when," that is found in verse 14. "And it shall come to pass." "And it came to pass"... "when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan."God made the promise to open the way for them to enter the land. What do you think would have happened if they had remained in their tents? It came to pass when they removed themselves from their tents. The thought that comes to me this morning is concerning my "comfort zone". Am I comfortable to remain in my tent when God has made so many promises that are actually conditioned upon my obedience to Him? Do I expect God to bless me when I am not prepared to follow Him? I say that if the people had not removed themselves, packed up their tents, and followed their commander, Joshua, they would not have experienced the blessing of walking beside a wall of water that God was holding back. If we pray for God to make the way and then we are hesitant to walk in the path He opens, we just might be robbing ourselves of a marvelous miraculous blessing.
"When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word
What a glory He sheds on our way.
When we do His good will, He abides with us still
and with all who will trust and obey."