(Saturday)
Well, back to the Old Testament and our reading for today. I don’t know about you but I’m finding it hard to read through all these names. But I know that it is important or it wouldn’t be in the Bible – God’s Holy Word if it wasn’t. It occurred to me that these names represent a person or a special place. Names are very important to us. They are part of our identity as people. We seldom like it when someone forgets our name. And the places we live have meaning to us. I don’t think it is any different for us then it was for the people living over 3000 years ago. So in reverence to them and their place in the bible, I will try to pronounce every one of them. (I also found that if it gets too difficult, bible gateway has an audio version of the bible.)
So reading through it again, I noticed that the people of Joseph (which as you may remember was divided into two tribes) complains that their allotment isn’t big enough and Joshua, tells them – if it’s not big enough for you then go conquer some more land. They whine a little more, but Joshua is persistent and tells them the power and the victory is theirs if they would just get off their duffs and go after it. I wonder how many people feel the same way as the tribes of Joseph did, they want their land handed to them, they want to complain but they don’t want to do anything about it.
If you are struggling with an issue, or a setback or a problem or an obstacle … think about Joshua’s response (17:15-18). He told them to go conquer, go for it, the enemy may be strong, but you are powerful, you can drive out the problems, the issues, the setbacks, the obstacles, not by your strength but because you can tap into the power of the Holy Spirit. It was there for the Israelites, it is here for us.
Blessings on the day
Pastor Kathy