I’m sure some will question, if not disagree outright with what I’m about to say here, but I am thoroughly convinced from all I have come to learn from scripture...that this process of abiding in Jesus, where He begins to ‘sanctify’ us, cannot even begin to take place until...we have fully surrendered our heart to Him. I mean...that’s what we ‘say’ we are doing when we walk that aisle and ‘repeat that prayer’, is it not? Yet, how many of us failed to get the ‘memo’ that God would actually ‘test’ our hearts to see how serious we were about this? (Deut. 8:2; 1 Thess.2:4)

I mean really, if you arranged for a local mechanic to overhaul the engine in an older model car of yours, it’s not like he can begin the work until you have delivered the car to his garage and handed him the keys...right? And what about that rich, young ruler who expressed interest in getting in on this ‘eternal life’ offer? What kept him from joining the group with Jesus? It was that ‘one thing’ he was not ready to turn over...so he walked away in sorrow, clearly conflicted... yet his decision had been made. (Luke 18:22-23; John 6:66)

Friends...God is not kidding around when He makes it known that the way to eternal life is selling out to Him first and keeping His law which boils down to loving Him with ‘all our heart, soul, mind, and strength’...and then in turn, we go and love others as ourselves, or as He first loved us. (Luke 10:25-28; John 15:12; Matt.22:36-40; Rom. 2:13). And let’s be honest here- how can we even begin to love others as He loved us unless we have His nature residing in us? Have we not all tried doing this and failed repeatedly? Guess what has to happen before we can ‘fulfill the law of love’? We have to lay down our old, carnal, selfish nature as He leads us to ‘put it to death’...and as we do, we begin to walk in the newness of life that is promised to those who come to Him. (Rom. 6:4-6; 8:29; 1 John 2:6).

And this...is what ‘sanctification’ is all about...being led to clear the land (purify our hearts) so that as ‘we decrease’, He increases (John 3:30; 1:12). Let’s face it...as much as we might agree on the idea that ‘fruit matters’...what has to happen first...before any fruit can ever come forth? Something has to ‘die’ (John 12:24). Yeah...you don’t grow a large church telling folks up front that they’re gonna have to lay it all down and take up their own cross and die to self if they have any hopes of seeing ‘eternal life’. No wonder Paul warned repeatedly of there being an uptick of false gospels out there that would lead many astray (2 Cor. 11:3-4; 2 Tim. 4:1-4; Acts 20:26-31); as did Jesus- (Matt. 24:4-5,11,13,24).

So back to our story in the Book of Joshua that we read yesterday. I hope that part about passing through the ‘flood’ resonated with some of you, encouraging you with the fact that even though there is ‘much work’ to be done in us all...we can walk in perfect peace provided... we follow closely on His heels, knowing the ‘wicked one’ can no longer touch us. (1 John 5:18). This doesn’t mean the enemy will stop tempting you, but those ‘enemies on the land’ that reside within us are ‘disarmed’, if I can use that term, and no longer have control over us as long as we have truly surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus. And if you hope on seeing genuine transformation in your life, it will require you ‘doing whatever He tells you’ (John 2:5). Water to wine...anyone?  After all...what’s the point of calling Him ‘Lord’...if we’re not going to do what He says? (Luke 6:46)

If you are familiar with the OT story of how Joshua led the people into the land, you probably remember the first city they would conquer- which was Jericho. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves because we read of one other important detail that needed to be taken care of first, there in chapter 5. And it had to do with the matter of ‘circumcision’. Take a moment and read vs. 1-7 there in Joshua 5 if you would please.

It seems that this rite or ritual of circumcising every male Hebrew child had continued to be passed down since God first established covenant with Abraham (Gen. 17:1-14). That is, until 400 years later, and now we have a generation of men who were born during this 40 year period of wandering in the wilderness who were not circumcised. So now, the Lord has instructed Joshua to get this resolved before they go any further (Josh 5:2). I should also mention that this was not an option. I shared a post back on 5.13.22 if you care to search the archives on my blog forum that spent more time discussing this topic, but for today, let me just say, speaking as a grown male...the thought of lining up to have this ‘procedure’ done without being ‘put under’ on an operating table... is no small matter. I mean... I just can’t even imagine...(Josh. 5:8)

And yet, God made it clear to Abraham early on...this covenant you are entering into is serious business. He (Abraham) was informed that every male among them was to be circumcised as it would be a ‘sign of the covenant between God and them’ (Gen. 17:11). It is important to note here that much of the OT is a foreshadowing, a type, or ‘blue prints’ of what was to come...and circumcision was an ‘outward’ sign indicating who was ‘all in’ with God...and who was not. It would seem to me that one would have to be fully committed to go through with this ‘cutting away of the flesh’. What say you?

But today, guess what is needing to be ‘circumcised’ ...if you are going to walk in covenant with God (Heb. 8:6)? Take a moment and read Colossians 2:11-13. You might also glance at Rom. 2:25-29 where Paul expounds upon this idea of having our hearts circumcised. Interestingly, we even seen hints of this given to us in the OT writings as well, like in Deut. 30:6 and Jer. 4:4, where God refers to having the ‘foreskins (flesh) of our hearts’ cut away. I’ll give you a moment with that one.

You see...one of the ‘perks’ or benefits that comes when entering into a covenant is that your ‘enemies’ become the enemies of your covenant partner as well. So when you consider all those ‘giants’ on the landscape in your life that have prevailed over you for years, if not generations...they are now God’s enemies. And what did God make clear to His people prior to entering this promised land? That they would indeed triumph and overcome every single one of them...provided they follow His instructions and do what God asked of them.

So...when did God change? (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8) And perhaps the other question that really needs to be asked when we begin this journey, would be the follow up question to ‘Do you want to be made well?’ (John 5:6), and that would be...”Are you ‘all in’?” Because if you are not, there really is no point in trying to move forward, unless you want to just settle for a ‘form of godliness while denying the power’ (2 Tim. 3:5). Tomorrow?