Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping
his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today…
Deuteronomy 8:11
It’s another New Year and
everyone wants a new start. I know it is
January 22nd, but it is still early enough to start over from those
already failed resolutions, right? This
time of year, a lot of us are thinking about what we would like to change in
our lives to make our lives and ourselves better. We want big changes, spectacular results, and
showers of blessings, but not all are sold out to completely doing what they
need to do to make this happen. We
expect the blessings to rain down but most of the time we are the obstacle to
making our own lives better.
The story of the battle
of Ai, that takes place in the book of Joshua in the Bible, can teach us a lot
about how we can make some self-defeating choices in life. Israel was seeing military victories, one
after the other, just as the Lord had promised them. However, after the battle of Jericho, one
man, Achan, broke their agreement with God - And
the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for
destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house
shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. Joshua 6:17.
Achan kept some of the loot from Jericho for himself,
going against God’s agreement with them.
God was the only one who knew that Achan had taken the things and buried
them under his tent floor. Therefore,
God judged them by not giving them the next victory, Ai. Joshua did not understand and he cried out to
God. God explained why they had not been given that victory. Achan thought that he could ignore God’s
conditions and still be blessed along with everyone else, but it didn’t turn
out too good for him. Instead, no one got blessed because of him.
Sometimes we do this same
thing to ourselves. We pray and we wait,
wondering what is taking God so long. We
want His blessings but we don’t want to follow His rules, or at least not ALL
His rules. Our disobedience will stop
the work of God in our lives.
Disobedience to God causes an obstacle between us and God and receiving
His blessings. It brings judgement into our lives and trips us up so that we are
thrown off track. Obedience will not
necessarily earn us God’s favor. He
doesn’t play favorites or pick teacher’s pets.
But, it will certainly place us in a position to receive the blessings
God has planned for us. Achieving
victory in our lives is easier than maintaining victory. Disobedience and sin are deal breakers in our
own personal covenant with God, and will keep victory at bay. Why would we want to do that to ourselves?
Just like Israel, we
often lose battles to our Ai. Have you
looked under your tent and seen what you have buried that you know God has said
you should not have? The things that we
cling to that we know we should not have bring no lasting joy, only lasting
guilt. Maybe our new New Year’s resolution should be to not be our own worst enemy, to not,
by our own hand, keep the blessings
of God away with our disobedience.
Scripture to Claim:
No man will be able
to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses,
I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Joshua 1:5
