Be Single-minded - The One Year Salt and Light Devotional

Joshua 3:5-6

Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do great wonders among you. (Joshua 3:5)

GOD HAD AN ASSIGNMENT FOR HIS PEOPLE. He was about to fulfill a long-ago promise for them, and from his many assurances in the previous years, it was clear that he would be going before them to prepare the way, beside them to give them strength, and behind them to keep them from failing. But there were conditions: They had to go forward in faith, follow his instructions, and maintain their devotion to him. These were hardly onerous burdens; he laid it all out for them. Their biggest obstacles were themselves. He would take care of the rest.

But in order for them to overcome their own insecurities and misperceptions, they would have to purify themselves. God would do wonders among them but only if they could see clearly. He did not demand perfection, only purity—singleness of heart, undivided loyalties, a sense of being set apart for his purposes. They would never be able to enter the Promised Land independently of the Promiser; they would never fail to enter it with him. He was working out his purposes in a people set apart to himself.

That’s a powerful illustration of how God is working in his people today. He has called you on an amazing adventure in the building of his promised Kingdom, but you can only enter into it by faithfulness to the Promiser. Divided loyalties will keep you in defeat and undermine your fruitfulness. Single-minded allegiance to him—a life dedicated to his purposes and his ways—will propel you into the fullness you’ve always longed for. It will be no easier for you than it was for the Israelites, but you are assured of his presence and power. He goes before you to open doors, make pathways straight, and give you the courage and persistence to overcome. You will not be left on the wrong side of the Jordan. The promises of the Kingdom are given to you, for you, and through you.

{Lord, I know some of the things you have called me to do. Others look too great or are too distant to be clear. In everything, give me faith, courage, and persistence. May my heart be firmly fixed on your purposes and your ways. Amen.