The heart of Ai
Joshua 7:13, “Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, “There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst.”
The children of Israel were feeling all puffed up, and unstoppable. They had witnessed what God had done in Egypt, at the Red Sea, the Jordan River, and now God had allowed them to conquer Jericho. I know they probably felt like they were invincible, but along with that feeling of invincibility came a prideful heart. A belief that they were winning these victories themselves, and therefore they thought they could do whatever they wanted; including “bending” God’s rules. So they took a few things that God told them not to take. I’m sure they thought in their minds that nobody would notice the few pieces that they took; they figured it wouldn’t matter if they disobeyed a few “small” commands of God.
When God gives a command He expects us to follow it, even though we may rate it as not that important. God does not give “small” commands that are of little importance. All of His commands are meant to be followed! The Bible reminds us that if we break one command of God then we are guilty of breaking them all! James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”
Following God is not a pick and choose situation. We’re either all in or we’re not in at all. In Matthew jesus reminds us that there is no “fence-sitting” with God. Matthew 12:30″He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
The children of Israel found out how serious God was about His commands when they went up against Ai, a small, insignificant people who stood in their way; and God handed them a defeat by their hands because of their disobedience.
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Father God, I thank You for giving me Your Word to follow, and I ask that You remind me that there are no unimportant, or less important commands in Your Word. I also thank You for giving me the grace of Your love when I do disobey You. In Jesus’ name, Amen
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The image above can be found at:http://godsacres.org/quarterly.TheConquestofCanaan.Lesson6.html
Yes, You Can Ministry 