Joshua 3:1-4(NKJV)
1Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from £Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. 2So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp; 3and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”
In our study of this period in the history of Israel, we come to the point where Israel is about to enter into the place of their destiny. They are about to cross over the Jordan River into the promised land. Everything that has happened to them for 40 years has been leading to this moment. Now they must get ready for this event.
What does crossing the Jordan represent to them? What does the idea of “crossing over” represent to us? I believe it is very significant for both. Let’s look at Israel for a moment.
What had Israel been up to this point? From the time Abram left his family in Ur of the Chaldeans he and his descendants had been a nomadic family. They lived in tents. They had no land that they possessed. They were nomadic wanderers right up until they went into Egypt during the time of Joseph.
The generations that lived in Egypt were slaves for the vast majority of their time there. When they left Egypt they were once again nomads. They didn’t possess any land, they lived in tents and even their place of worship was a mobile tabernacle that was designed to be picked up and moved at a moment’s notice.
Not once in their history had they had a place to call their home. God had given Canaan to Abraham, but the only part of it he owned was the small tract of land in which he buried Sarah. This remained the only property the nation of Israel had ever owned even during the time of Moses.
Now they are camped across the river from the first homeland their people would ever know. They would live in houses not tents. They would have vineyards, fields and herds. They would one day build a great temple to replace the mobile tabernacle and Jerusalem would become the focal point of their worship. The crossing of the river Jordan represented a totally new dimension of life for them.
One of the things to note about this change is the fact that Israel’s destiny was on the other side of that river. In order to fulfill God’s purpose for their whole existence, they had to cross that river. The crossing of Jordan was God positioning them for destiny.
I believe God is doing the same thing with us today. I believe this is a season where God is moving us, both corporately and individually into position to fulfill our destiny. For them it was the crossing of a river. For us it is many things.
I believe we need to cross some lines in our lives in order to be in position to fulfill our destinies, however for us they are mostly inward lines. There may be some who need to change locations or jobs or some other outward thing, but I know for me God is not talking about those kinds of lines. He talking to me about being in position where my lifestyle is concerned. He is talking about my attitudes and the practices that either lead me to or away from being the kind of Christian I need to be.
Hebrews 12:1(NKJV)
1Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
This verse gives us an indication of the kind of positioning we need. We are told to lay aside two things. Sins and weights. We know what sins are. Many of us have allowed far too many to remain in our lives. In order to be in a position to fulfill our destiny we must deal with them.
The good news is that God has not left us to do that alone. We have been given grace. For some grace is seen as an excuse not to deal with sinful things in life. They would argue that since we live under grace and not law, it doesn’t really matter what we do. Grace will cover it. However grace does not change the wages of sin. Those wages are death. They are death under law and they are death under grace. They may not result in physical death, but they allow death into our lives as sickness, failure and myriad other things we don’t want.
However we cannot go the other way and say that we are simply required to keep the law without error. This is the antithesis of the message of the gospel. We cannot keep the law without error. That is why Jesus came. Grace is the undeserved favor that God gives us in spite of our sin. However grace does not free us to sin. It is the vehicle that frees us to not sin.
I have favor with God. I can come to him even when I fail. I can receive forgiveness. When I sin I am not cut off from the family. When I sin I am wrong but I am not evil. The sin may be evil but I am not. By grace I can come back to God in repentance and He promises to forgive me and cleanse me from unrighteousness.
The message of grace is powerful but that does not change the fact that I must deal with sin. It is part of what God is doing in my life to bring me to the place where I can fulfill my destiny. Sin puts me in a position where I cannot be what I need to be to fulfill God’s purpose for me. Dealing with it positions me for destiny.
What about the weights spoken of here? Join me tomorrow and we will continue this thought.
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