Obedience to God Brings His Blessings - Joshua 7-9 and Luke 1:21-38
Israel won a glorious victory at Jericho, because they obeyed God's instructions, even though they were unusual. After this great victory, they suffered a humiliating defeat at the small town of Ai, because of a case of blatant disobedience. Achan took some of the spoils for himself. This was expressly forbidden by God, but he did it anyway, and his sin caused 36 men to be killed at Ai. Why did God allow Achan's sin to bring such deadly results on Israel? It was for their own good. They needed to understand that the way to victory was only through obedience to Him, because He knew best. They needed to know that He could not bless them, if they sinned, because He would be encouraging disobedience. God does not ever lead people to sin. Israel needed to learn this, and we need live by this understanding today. Once Achan and his family were punished, the people learned this lesson, and they went on to a great victory at Ai. The battle plan was much different from the one at Jericho or even the first attack at Ai, though. God wanted to show them that His way was the best. He wanted to reinforce the need for obedience. The Israelites learned the lesson in battle, but they forgot to apply this principle in peace. They were fooled by the Gibeonites, because they did not seek God's counsel before they acted. This is another form of disobedience. We can't follow the Lord's will until we have sought it, and He has revealed it to us. Therefore, we err by blatantly sinning and by failing to seek the Lord. We must make obedience our aim all of the time. Then, God can bless us in our faithfulness.
Mary is a great example of this. Why was she chosen to be the mother of Jesus? She found favor with God. In order to find favor with God, she must have refrained from sin and been obedient to Him. This is seen in her response to Gabriel. She was troubled and afraid at first, but she listened to God's message. Then, she asked for a clarification. Once she knew exactly what God was saying to her, she submitted to His will. I believe this had been her practice even before this time. Now, God was calling on her to be obedient in an even greater way, so He tells her that nothing is impossible with His blessing. We can expect God's punishment when we sin, but we can always expect His encouragement when we obey, too. He is trying to bless us, but blessing comes from obedience.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Joshua 10-12 and Luke 1:39-56.
Mary is a great example of this. Why was she chosen to be the mother of Jesus? She found favor with God. In order to find favor with God, she must have refrained from sin and been obedient to Him. This is seen in her response to Gabriel. She was troubled and afraid at first, but she listened to God's message. Then, she asked for a clarification. Once she knew exactly what God was saying to her, she submitted to His will. I believe this had been her practice even before this time. Now, God was calling on her to be obedient in an even greater way, so He tells her that nothing is impossible with His blessing. We can expect God's punishment when we sin, but we can always expect His encouragement when we obey, too. He is trying to bless us, but blessing comes from obedience.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Joshua 10-12 and Luke 1:39-56.