Whole or Half

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

WHOLE OR HALF

Josh 22:1-5

22:1 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh 2 and said to them, "You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. 3 For a long time now — to this very day — you have not deserted your brothers but have carried out the mission the LORD your God gave you. 4 Now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul."

NIV

It was time for the fighting men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to go back to the land Moses allotted to them on the east of the Jordan. The half-tribe of Manasseh was right across the Jordan from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, with Gad just south of them and Rueben bordered the east side of the Dead Sea. They were given specific instructions that would be our life lesson as well. First, they were to be very careful to keep the commandments and the law that Moses gave them. Second, it included: loving the LORD their God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his command, to hold fast to him, and serve him with all their heart and all their soul. Let us be very careful to keep the commandments of the LORD. We would believe that we love the Lord our God, and we would hope that we are walking in all his ways, however, do we know and are we sure of all the ways of our Lord? Of course, that could simply mean being obedient to his commands. Then it comes down to hearing his commands so that we can obey them unless holding fast to him and serving him with all our heart and soul is being obedient to his commands. What does it mean to hold fast to him? The clue is in the Hebrew word dabaq which has a direct meaning to cling, to stick, to cleave, keep close, follow closely, and to be joined to. That would not leave any room to cling onto anything or anybody else. We understand God commanded Adam, that a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave, the same Hebrew word, dabaq, unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. Jesus quoted that verse of Genesis and Paul used it in his letter to the Ephesians. It would make sense that if we were to hold fast, to cleave to our Lord, leaving, symbolically our close family, we would be as one flesh with our Lord. We are called the bride of Christ, and we do have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, becoming one with us, as we become one with him. But do we hold that fast, do we really cleave with all we are, to our Lord? Then we also have to ask if we serve him with all our heart and soul. Jesus quoted that same thing from the law given in Deuteronomy, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, and with all your mind” as recorded by Matthew, however, Luke included, “With all your strength”. Are we doing that? Is our heart divided at all? Is our mind divided, do we think of so many things of this world rather than our attention to our Lord. Of course, we must work, but are we not told to work as onto the Lord. Should not the focus of our lives be on our Lord? Should we not be serving him with every fiber of our being or have we allowed ourselves to become divided. Are we wholehearted or halfhearted?