God always wants us to be prepared for next moves. One thing preparation in God’s eyes means is being refreshed or coming clean before Him; removing things not appropriate or fit for the purposes ahead, and taking the appropriate actions to be ready to advance forward.
RELEVANCE
After the long journey in the wilderness, it was time to finally cross over into the Promised Land. God issued His final set of instructions before crossing over. Those instructions included two things: 1) “sanctify yourselves”—get cleaned up and be fresh and ready to stand in God’s presence; and 2) “take up the ark”—keep God’s Word and covenant in the center your heart and forefront of your mind.
And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people” (Joshua 3:5-6).
The Bible records how God would continuously do “new things.” In fact, as Creator, it’s His nature to always be doing new things. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed in Isaiah 42:9 “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare.” In Isaiah 43:19 he added, “Behold, I will do a new thing…Shall you not know it?” Wow! God challenges us to actually perceive and see as reality new things He prepares for us!
In the New Testament too, Jesus shared in a clear and concise way how to follow Him forward in the new life: “take up your cross.”
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).
Living the new life in the Lord has its blessings. It also requires that we make God’s way our way. His way is the way of the Spirit; abiding in Him, seeking His will and way. Jesus set the example clearly: sacrifice our way for His way.
REFLECT AND RELATE
Are there any encumbrances you might need to eliminate to go forward?
Are you equipped for the challenges ahead?
Do you have peace from the Holy Spirit to go in a particular direction?
REFERENCES
Hebrews 12:1-2; James 4:7-10