Be Complete - The One Year Salt and Light Devotional

Joshua 5:1-12

The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt.” (Joshua 5:9)

ONE OF MARTIN LUTHER’S GREAT personal revelations was that he had spent years trying to earn something that had already been granted to him. He was striving to obtain God’s favor rather than stepping into the favor Jesus had already earned on his behalf. He had been seeking a position of righteousness rather than living in the righteous position he already had. God had impressed upon him the lasting promises of the gospel of grace in place of the futility of a gospel of works.

Before the Israelites continued into the Promised Land, God gave them a moment to renew the covenant that had been given to their ancestors. This new circumcision was loaded with meanings, one of which was to remind them that they were heirs of a long-ago promise, not conquerors of new land. They would be stepping into an inheritance, not to earn anything but to simply receive it. As God’s people, they were not going to be striving for status; they would merely be living out their position.

This is vital for you to remember in your mission in life and relationship with the world around you. If you see yourself on a journey toward stepping out of past shame and striving to become somebody in God’s Kingdom, you will miss what has already been given to you and spend years in frustration. As a beloved child of the King, currently in good standing by the righteousness of Jesus, you already are somebody. He has rolled away your shame. You are not under contractual labor to build the Kingdom; you are sent out to inherit it. You live from a place of victory, not a place of struggle—even when the battle rages.

God will give you opportunities to remember the covenant you have entered into and to recommit to it, just as he did with Israel at Gilgal after they crossed the Jordan. Your Jericho battle may be coming, but the family inheritance is sure. Your calling is not to ask for what he has given but to step into it by faith.

{Lord, may I never live from a place of poverty, unaware of the blessings you have already given me. I want to step fully into the inheritance you have provided. Let my heart receive your provision completely. Amen.