Year 4, Day 189: Joshua 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Abide, Bear Fruit

• Abide: This is a moment, day, or even a season when we focus on God.  It is a time when we are rejuvenated by God.  It is the time for us to gather up what we will need for the coming growth after a season of pruning.  However, abiding is not the end.  We abide so that we can grow, bear fruit, prune, and abide again.
• Bear Fruit: We bear fruit after we grow.  Bearing fruit is ultimately the goal of abiding and the goal of being called into the Kingdom of God.  However, while bearing fruit is our calling, it is not the end.  We bear fruit so that we can then prune, abide, grow, and bear more fruit in another season.  Bearing fruit is not the end, but rather only a portion of the whole rhythm of life into which God has called us.

I think it would be easy for the Hebrew people to come through the Jordan and simply abide.  After all, wouldn’t crossing the Jordan be a great experience?  Imagine watching all the waters stop flowing.  Imagine knowing that they are held back while you see the ark in the middle of the river.  Imagine being present as you watch the laws of physics being twisted and perhaps even broken.  What an incredible moment.  How easy would it have been to stop and say, “Wow, we’ve arrived!”

God doesn’t let Joshua stay there.  For the record, Joshua doesn’t let the people stay there either.  Joshua looks to the people and says, “We’ve got a land to conquest.  Get some stones so that as we grow and spread through this land we can remember this day.  We may be in a spiritual moment of abiding, but we’ve got some growing to do.  We’re going to conquer this land and bear some spiritual fruit.  We’re going to declare to our children and our neighbors just how great this God is.”

Joshua understands the rhythm of life.  Life isn’t about finding a spiritual high and staying there.  Life is about understanding the cycle.  We abide in the spiritual moments.  We grow after abiding.  We bear fruit after growing.  We prune after bearing fruit.  We abide once more having completed the healthy rhythm of God’s calling.  Joshua gets it.  He doesn’t let the people stay forever in abiding.  He prepares them for the growth and fruit ahead.

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