Day 102

Joshua 5:1–7:15; Luke 15:1-32; Psalm 81:1-16; Proverbs 13:1

WE EXPERIENCED THE wonder of entering the Promised Land yesterday, and we will spend most of the rest of our journey within it as we travel through the stories of the Bible. Today, we experienced victory and defeat. The victory came with the highly sensational conquest of Jericho. Everyone obeyed God, and God went before His people as the walls of Jericho fell.

But this victory was quickly displaced by a demoralizing defeat at the nearby city of Ai. Joshua was in a panic:

Lord, what can I say now that Israel has fled from its enemies? For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe our name off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the honor of your great name?

There was a reason this defeat happened, and it will unfold in a sobering way as we move deeper into the story tomorrow.

In our reading from Psalms, we encountered some important questions to consider: Does God have feelings? Does the way we live our lives affect God? Is He ever exasperated? Does He ever lament? These are fascinating things to think about, but what if the answer to these questions was yes? How would it change your choices if you knew they were affecting God? Ah, but they are. And the Psalms help us to see this clearly:

No, my people wouldn’t listen. Israel did not want me around. So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas. Oh, that my people would listen to me!

This is the voice of God speaking from the Psalms, and He doesn’t sound aloof or disinterested —because He’s not. God is not indifferent to us, and God has never been without emotion toward His people. At this point in the Bible, that is becoming tremendously clear.

God wants to know and be known by us. We would otherwise call this a relationship. And in relationships, indifference doesn’t work. Ironically, we often blame God for indifference while being completely indifferent to His heart. Our reading from Psalms gives us a glimpse into what it feels like for God when we do this.

Consider that your actions will matter in your relationship with God today, not because He might punish you if you’re bad, but because He has trusted you with His heart. If we will do this as we walk with God, we will see His powerful resolve to care for us in return:

How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon my hands would be upon their foes! Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him; they would be doomed forever. But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.

MEDITATION:

Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you.