Don’t let your guard down

Joshua 9…The early days of Joshua’s leadership. He had just led the Israelites to victory against Jericho. They had a set-back, someone (1 person) disobeyed God so they lost the next battle against Ai. They took care of that…killed that man. Won the next battle & their covenant with God is renewed. Insert- Gibeonites. They had heard God was on the Israelites side & were afraid for their lives. They took moldy bread & old wine skins & made the Israelites believe they had travelled from a distant country to make a peace treaty. They were in fact from the Promised Land which was in the process of being cleaned out so the Israelites could inhabit it. They knew they would be killed, hence their deception.

Joshua, not knowing any better looks at their moldy bread and tattered clothes and believes them. Easy enough. But here’s the kicker, Joshua 9:14 says,

The Israelites examined their food but they did NOT consult the Lord

Joshua made the peace treaty, then learned they were from nearby. They had to uphold the peace treaty because they swore an oath in the name of the Lord. Consequences….they had to fight battles to protect these people, they had to see these people the rest of their lives…had to share the Promised Land & be reminded daily that they made this decision without consulting the Lord.

What happened?  Was Joshua on a high from winning battles, did he let his guard down, did he feel tight with God and therefore thought he could do something all by himself?  I don’t think we can give Joshua too hard of  a time…how many times do we make a seemingly easy decision without consulting the Lord? I would say every day.  Whether we feel we know better than God or feel this decision is too small to bother God with? We do it all the time.  And how many of us see the consequences to those decisions daily?

God cares about every aspect of our lives.  He knows all the details, He knows His plan for our lives.  Knowing all of that…why wouldn’t we consult Him with every decision in life.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing”.  This is why…because our days are filled with decisions…many of them mindless, we don’t even think about them.  How would my life look if I did consult God with everything?  Think of the heartaches or disappointments that could have been avoided.  Give it a try…the only way to go is up!