Totally Devoted to You
Opening Prayer
Pray for this moment to be a holy moment with God, so you may live a holy life for him.
Read Joshua 6:12-19
[12] Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. [13] The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. [14] So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. [15] On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. [16] The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! [17] The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. [18] But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. [19] All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.” Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
What command(s) did Joshua give his army, and why?Doesn’t it strike you as a little strange that the city falls to the people of Israel on the seventh day, on the Sabbath, on the day dedicated to the Lord? It’s supposed to be a day of rest, but isn’t besieging and sacking a city an awful lot of hard work? Well, it’s not so strange, because just as the Sabbath is to be dedicated to the Lord, so this city is to be dedicated to him as well (17). It’s to be given over wholly to him. Why? Because God and God alone is the source of this victory. That’s why the Ark of the Lord–symbolizing his presence, his holiness and his power–encircles the walls. That’s why the number seven, which is God’s number signifying wholeness and holiness, is used so much in the story. God gives this city into his people’s hands and they are to give it right back into his hands. They are to devote the city to him as a sign that the victory is his alone, that life in this new land will be one of holiness, obedience, dedication and devotion to him, and to him alone.
Apply
How much are holiness, obedience, dedication and devotion hallmarks of your life? In what ways is that evident?
Closing prayer
Lord, all I have is a gift from You. I hold it lightly in thanks for all You’ve done and given me.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.