In Joshua 24, the people of Israel had conquered the Promised
Land and divided it up among the tribes.
Joshua challenged them to “choose you this day whom ye
will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh.
24:15, KJV) The people chose to serve
God, so Joshua directed them to get rid of their foreign gods and to yield to
the Lord God. Sadly, they did not keep
their promise very long. After Joshua died, we
find that the Israelites repeatedly turn back to their idols, then God would
send judgment, and then they would turn back to God. How often do we fall into a similar
cycle? We may be doing well, serving and
seeking God for a while, but then, temptation hits. Do we yield to the temptation or continue on
the straight path of serving God? Unfortunately,
we often give in to the sin. God sends
retribution for our sins, it may be immediate or it may come over time; and
like the Israelites, we turn back to God after a time of rebellion, begging for
His forgiveness and mercy. Thankfully,
we have Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to cleanse us of our
unrighteousness. But, as it says in
Romans 6, we should not use God’s grace as an excuse to go on sinning. If we choose to yield to God and plant
ourselves firmly in Him, then we can yield good fruit. “For he shall be
as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,
and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8 (KJV)Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Yield
“Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God.” Romans 6:13 (KJV)
In Joshua 24, the people of Israel had conquered the Promised
Land and divided it up among the tribes.
Joshua challenged them to “choose you this day whom ye
will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh.
24:15, KJV) The people chose to serve
God, so Joshua directed them to get rid of their foreign gods and to yield to
the Lord God. Sadly, they did not keep
their promise very long. After Joshua died, we
find that the Israelites repeatedly turn back to their idols, then God would
send judgment, and then they would turn back to God. How often do we fall into a similar
cycle? We may be doing well, serving and
seeking God for a while, but then, temptation hits. Do we yield to the temptation or continue on
the straight path of serving God? Unfortunately,
we often give in to the sin. God sends
retribution for our sins, it may be immediate or it may come over time; and
like the Israelites, we turn back to God after a time of rebellion, begging for
His forgiveness and mercy. Thankfully,
we have Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to cleanse us of our
unrighteousness. But, as it says in
Romans 6, we should not use God’s grace as an excuse to go on sinning. If we choose to yield to God and plant
ourselves firmly in Him, then we can yield good fruit. “For he shall be
as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,
and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8 (KJV)
I am currently participating in the Blogging from A to Z April 2015 Challenge. My theme is life lessons from the Bible. You can find more information about the challenge by clicking on the badge to the right or click here for a list of participants. It has been an interesting experience so far and I have enjoyed finding and visiting other blogs. If you are a fellow participant, thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment!
In Joshua 24, the people of Israel had conquered the Promised
Land and divided it up among the tribes.
Joshua challenged them to “choose you this day whom ye
will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh.
24:15, KJV) The people chose to serve
God, so Joshua directed them to get rid of their foreign gods and to yield to
the Lord God. Sadly, they did not keep
their promise very long. After Joshua died, we
find that the Israelites repeatedly turn back to their idols, then God would
send judgment, and then they would turn back to God. How often do we fall into a similar
cycle? We may be doing well, serving and
seeking God for a while, but then, temptation hits. Do we yield to the temptation or continue on
the straight path of serving God? Unfortunately,
we often give in to the sin. God sends
retribution for our sins, it may be immediate or it may come over time; and
like the Israelites, we turn back to God after a time of rebellion, begging for
His forgiveness and mercy. Thankfully,
we have Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to cleanse us of our
unrighteousness. But, as it says in
Romans 6, we should not use God’s grace as an excuse to go on sinning. If we choose to yield to God and plant
ourselves firmly in Him, then we can yield good fruit. “For he shall be
as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,
and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8 (KJV)
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It is always interesting to read the stories of the Israelites in the Bible and how often they fell away from following God. We too are guilty of it as you mentioned. It is hard to yield to Him but so worth it!
ReplyDeletebetty
Sadly sin and temptation has always been the easiest to which to yield. Living for ourselves in the presents seems to have the most tangible rewards, but they are also the most temporal and empty in the long run.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Join us on May 4 with your post of Reflections about this year's A to Z.
Tossing It Out
Love your site and your theme, Liz! Thanks for visiting mine.
ReplyDeleteParticipating in
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