So Joshua called together the priests and said, "Take up the Ark of the Lord's Covenant, and assign seven priests to walk in front of it, each carrying a ram's horn." Then he gave orders to the people: "March around the town, and the armed men will lead the way in front of the Ark of the Lord." Joshua 6:6-7
When discussing faith, it does not take long to realize that obedience and faith are intricately connected. If we believe in someone, we do what they say because we trust them. However, if we do not have faith, we will not obey. This is particularly true when it comes to our faith in God. True faith in Him, Scripture teaches, involves obeying Him and what He calls us to do. After all, if we have complete faith in Christ, we will do whatever He calls us to do, even when what He calls us to do is confusing and does not make sense.
We find Joshua in Joshua 6 with a decision to make. God promised him that the city of Jericho had been given to the Israelites. The question was, however, how would the Israelites take the city? The gates were shut off, and no one was allowed in or out of the city out of fear of the Israelites (verse 1). God explained that the Israelites would take over the city by marching around the city for seven days in a row. After the Israelites walked around the city on the seventh day and shouted the walls would fall. At this point, Joshua had to decide how to respond. Would he question God's response, wondering how walking around a city would ultimately lead the city's walls to fall so that the Israelites could claim the city God had given them, or would He respond in faith and trust God? Joshua chose faith. After God's instruction, He immediately called the Israelites together to do what God called them to do. He obeyed. Why did He obey? He obeyed because of His faith in God. He trusted Him and believed that God would do what He said.
Like Joshua, God calls us to do things that seem confusing or do not make sense. For example, he calls us to forgive when the world would tell us not to forgive someone who wronged us. He calls us to make financial decisions that the world would not understand. He calls us to sacrifice when the world tells us to look out for ourselves. These are just a few things God calls us to do at times that are confusing and do not make sense to the world watching us. The question is, how will we respond? Will we ignore God's commands, or will we put our faith into action and obey? I urge you, friend, to choose to obey Him.
It is time today to put our faith into action and obey. What step of obedience has God called you to take? Maybe He is calling you to share your faith with a friend or family member who does not have a relationship with Christ. He may be calling you to sign up to serve during one of our weekend services. Maybe today, He is calling you to forgive someone who needs forgiveness. Choose today to obey Him, even when you are scared or even when what He calls you to does not make sense. After all, He can be trusted to keep His promises.
Joshua 6:6-11
"So Joshua called together the priests and said, "Take up the Ark of the Lord's Covenant, and assign seven priests to walk in front of it, each carrying a ram's horn." 7 Then he gave orders to the people: "March around the town, and the armed men will lead the way in front of the Ark of the Lord."
8 After Joshua spoke to the people, the seven priests with the rams' horns started marching in the presence of the Lord, blowing the horns as they marched. And the Ark of the Lord's Covenant followed behind them. 9 Some of the armed men marched in front of the priests with the horns and some behind the Ark, with the priests continually blowing the horns. 10 "Do not shout; do not even talk," Joshua commanded. "Not a single word from any of you until I tell you to shout. Then shout!" 11 So the Ark of the Lord was carried around the town once that day, and then everyone returned to spend the night in the camp."
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