“So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”
Joshua 6:20
As I read this story, something that really stands out to me about it is the perfect obedience the people had. They did all that was commanded of them to the letter, as they marched around the city for 6 days they didn’t utter a single word or sound. The Lord gave them specific instructions, and they obeyed completely. Therefore, what God said would happen, did.
The walls fell flat and they conquered the city with ease. Therein lies one of the common themes throughout the Bible: there’s blessing in obedience. God gives us instructions to live by, commandments and boundaries that are for OUR benefit and His pleasure if we seek to live by them. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Jos. 1:8).
When will we stop making excuses for why we don’t seek God, read the Bible daily, and put Him first in all things? Why must we encourage Christians to read the word of God in the first place? To “observe” means to be careful and intentional, it’s describing a way of life that purposely seeks God’s will in all things. How can we be obedient if we don’t even know what we need to do? Why aren’t we obedient when we KNOW what to do?
I see so many today that live a life of complacency and laziness when it comes to Christianity, “I know I need to do this, but I don’t feel like it”. It pains me to see it, I know of many that God would use in mighty ways if only they would submit to Him. Yet it’s always the same excuse, the same sin, the same lesson they refuse to learn because they love their sin more than they love God. It’s a harsh truth, but one that needs to be spoken.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”Hebrews 5:12 #CalledtoBattle
