Shout! For the Lord Has...

Reflection on Joshua 6:15-16 — 11/7/2023

On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! — Joshua 6:15-16

Has. Past tense.

But in the visible and present reality it didn’t seem like he had. The walls of Jericho were still standing, and the Israelites were outside of the city. Nevertheless, Joshua commands a cry of victory.

This is what life with God is like. It involves relying on the word spoken from the unseen Kingdom of God and conducting oneself as if that word was true. This is challenging for those of us who are accustomed to relying on our senses, our intellect, our bank accounts, our resources, ourselves…

It’s also why God has given us the gift of discipleship. In that arrangement we get to learn from one whose entire life was founded upon the word of God. As his disciples we learn to “look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen,” andto base our lives on that reality. In that reality there is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control, and more!

Instead of conquering Jericho on our own, we may walk into the victory that God has already given us. Grace to you today, as you live according to the invisible, but more concrete, word of God.

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