Get Rid of Them

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

GET RID OF THEM

Josh 7:6-12

6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the LORD, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? 9 The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?" 10 The LORD said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. 12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

NIV

We are still in the portion where some devoted things, false gods, and hidden things from the plunder of Jericho are the main topics of this chapter. Because the fighting men were routed by their enemy, Joshua and the elders prostrated themselves before the ark of the LORD. But the Lord told Joshua to stand up and informed him there were things in the camp devoted to destruction and unless they were destroyed, Israel would not be able to stand; in fact, the Lord will no longer be with Joshua or the people. That is harsh, and it seems easy to glean a truth for our lives. We know that Jesus said that he would never leave us nor forsake us and that we have the Spirit dwelling within us, however, there is something we need to ponder. Is it possible that we have anything that we have hidden from the Lord? Are we putting value in or on something that takes our face from the Lord? We know we are warned in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians about eating the communion unworthily, which caused many of them to be sick and even some fell asleep, or died. We are to examine ourselves before we take communion and see if we have any unconfessed sin in our lives before we partake in the Lord’s supper. However, what about our daily lives? Why are there not massive amounts of healing in the church? Oh, we see scenes from some churches where hundreds are under the influence of the Spirit, and many healings are happening, but is it real, or are the people under the influence of some false teacher? Still, we do wonder why we do not see many healings in our local churches. Are we hiding anything from the Lord? Are we trusting in anything more than the Lord? Have we put more value on anything than on Jesus? Is the Lord our utmost important focus in our lives? This is not to say we cannot enjoy things, but what or who is the reason we have those things? We are told to seek first the kingdom of God, that is our first and foremost focus is supposed to be on the Lord and His kingdom, our spiritual journey being influenced by the Spirit. We are told to forget what is behind us and strain toward our goal, the prize, the kingdom of God. Yes, we have to live in this world and engage in daily activities, some of which may not appear religious or spiritual, but that does not mean we have forgotten or should not mean we should forget the presence of our Lord. Maybe, just a thought, not a judgment, if we faced the Lord instead of some hidden thing, we would see more healing. God told them to rid themselves of anything of destruction, and we might consider if we have anything in our lives we need to get rid of.