Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Self-control”
Our Bible verse for today: “So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath.” Joshua 9:14-15 (NLT)
Our thought for the day: “Take the time to pray first.”
In Joshua Chapter nine we find the nation of Israel in the process of occupying the Promised Land. God had told them that as they went forward, taking possession of the land He had given to them as a gift, they were to completely wipe-out the current occupants of that land. The reason God issued such a draconian degree is that those nations were tremendously wicked. They engaged in evil practices that were very offensive to God, and so as punishment He decreed that they be completely wiped-out.
When the people of the land of Gibeon heard what was happening they were afraid. They realized that Israel was unstoppable and that they themselves would be wiped-out. So they devised a scheme to fool Joshua and the Jewish leaders. They sent a delegation to meet with them and they pretended to be from a land far away. They claimed that they had heard of the greatness of the Jews and of their God and they wanted to make a treaty with them. They claimed that since they lived in a land far away, God’s decree to destroy the evil current residents of the Promised Land didn’t apply to them.
It was a lie, a ruse, and Joshua and the other leaders fell for it. Why did they fall for it? Verse 9:14 tells us that they didn’t pray about it first. They made their decision without consulting the Lord. As a result they ended up with very close neighbors who were among the evil people God had said were to be wiped-out. Those evil neighbors ended-up creating all sorts of problems for the Jews for generations to come.
We do this all the time too. How often do we rush right into making a decision without even bothering to pray about it first? Certainly we do it many times every day on all sorts of little issues, but we do it with big issues too. How often do we stake-out a position on something based upon emotion or stubbornness, a position that’s really petty and small, a position we would never have taken if we had prayed about it first and truly sought God’s will on the issue?
One of the most beneficial aspects of self-control we can develop is to slow down long enough in our decision-making to pray about it first. Doing so would save us from all kinds of poor decisions and many unintended and unpleasant consequences.
Take the time to pray first.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 