Eyes Ahead

Friday February 27,2015

Glen, an old family friend, took a fall inside his home and fractured his neck. Fortunately, he didn´t need surgery. His doctor fitted him with a neck brace and instructed him not to bend, lift or turn until his neck had healed. This meant that he had to move his entire body to see anything outside his direct line of sight. He could focus only on what was directly in front of him.

God wanted the Israelites to focus on Him exclusively - keeping Him at the centre of their lives. According to Joshua, the people were not to turn "to the right or to the left" (Joshua 23:6). This wasn´t easy for the nation of nomads when they entered the Promised Land. Distractions were everywhere - pagan gods, exotic foreigners and an array of unusual customs.

Still God promised to bless the Israelites if they would concentrate on Him. They would have the respect of other nations, gain victories and enjoy climate changes tailored to meet their needs! Their children, crops and livestock would flourish (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). Joshua warned them, however, "If you turn away from [God] and cling to the customs of the survivors of these nations ... and if you intermarry ... [then] they will be a snare and a trap to you, a whip for your backs" (Joshua 23:12-13).

As believers in Jesus, we live in a world teeming with temptations that can dilute our devotion to God. Discipline in our spiritual lives can help us focus on Him. Contemplating Scripture, conversing with God, worshipping Him and fasting are some prime practices to keep us from turning to the left or to the right (v.6). Staying focused on Him means loving Him with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind (Luke 10:27). - Jennifer Benson Schuldt.

Read
Joshua 23:1-16
After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then old and well advanced in years, summoned all Israel - their elders, leaders, judges and officials - and said to them : "I am old and well advanced in years. You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you. Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain - the nations I conquered - between the Jordan and the Great Sea in the west. The Lord your God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.
"Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. DO not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now."
"The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. So be very careful to love the Lord your God."
"But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you."
"Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. But just as every good promise of the Lord your God has come true, so the Lord will bring on you all the evil he has threatened, until he has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord´s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you."

Daniel 6:10
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Daniel 6:19-23
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?"
Daniel answered, "O King, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O King."
The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his GOd.

Question to Ponder
Why does God prize our wholehearted devotion to Him?
What kind of spiritual discipline most effectively helps you focus on God?

**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) Dec 2014 - Feb 2015 issue