Scripture Passage
“So the LORD gave to Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD helped them conquer all their enemies. Not a single one of all the good promises the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.” (Joshua 21:43-45 NLT)
Observation
I know it’s a little too honest to say so, but thank God for the oasis of one encouraging paragraph in a desert of legalese!
Today’s reading—as you know—identifies the cities of refuge in Israel, and the towns and pastureland given to the Levites…all of which, I’m sure, would have been of great significance (to a refugee or a Levite) as testimony to the Lord’s provision. It doesn’t, however, leave me with hands upraised and swollen eyes!
I can latch on to chapter 21, verses 43-45, however, especially the first part of verse 44—
“And the LORD gave them rest on every side…” (Joshua 21:44 NLT)
Doesn’t that sound good? Isn’t that both what Israel had longed for and what God had promised a generation earlier when they left Egypt and slavery behind? Now the land was theirs, and rest was theirs—including a covenant that commanded a full day of rest every week!
Rest on every side!
My suspicion is that, much more than we appropriate it, that’s what God intends for us. I mean, I’m fully confident that’s what God intends for us…
“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:9-10 NIV)
My suspicion is that we consistently fail to appropriate that rest—at least, to it’s full measure. I wonder if today, though—just for today—I might grab hold of that rest a little more tenaciously than usual. I wonder how God might honor a heart that looked to Him for “rest on every side.”
No comments:
Post a Comment