When Life is Ordinary

Joshua 6:12-19

12Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13The 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. 14So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. 15On 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. 16The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17The 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. 18But 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. 19All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”

Introduction

Have you ever had a day when you felt like your day is just a routine ordinary day? Or do you normally feel excited what your new day would bring? Do you expect that something great arises when you do the same old routine?
Early in my life, I lived in a mountainous environment. During our first few years in Winnipeg, I struggled to acclimatize to the flat environment of Manitoba. That kind of flat, lifeless, or boring experience might be unknowingly a reason why many people want to go outside Manitoba if they get a chance.

Spiritually speaking, many church-goers feel that Christian life is flat, boring and ordinary. Did the Lord design church life like a flat environment of Manitoba to be less challenging? How can we live a life of progressive devotion to the Lord? How can we be inspired when Christian life seems to be ordinary?

1. Ordinary

12Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13The 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.

Marching around Jericho could have been challenging for the Israelites. Nobody complained audibly but some might have been thinking why they need to march for six days. Were the Israelites scared? Were they excited or bored?
For 40 years, they’ve been marching in the wilderness. So, marching around Jericho was just an ordinary activity for them, right? Did the Israelites appreciate marching as physical exercised? Have they learned how to obey harmoniously as a group without complaining?

If the Lord tells you to exercise like: March around your neighbourhood while praying for opportunities to share the gospel, will you find to obey? One might say, “I have urgent things to do!” We can always find urgent things to do.

14So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

The writer mentioned what they did on the 2nd day but what they did on the 3rd day, 4th day, 5th day and 6th day were not mentioned. It is mentioned that what they did on the 1st and 2nd days, they did it for six days. Why did the author not elaborate what they did on the 3rd day, 4th day, 5th day and 6th day? From the writer’s narrative, can we assume that there were no unusual activities happened?
What they did for six days was just ordinary in the writer’s point of view. Nothing special worth mentioning about! Just read what they did on the 1st and 2nd day and you’ll know what they did on the 3rd day, 4th day, 5th day and 6th day. What can we learn from that narrative as Christians?
When life becomes ordinary, when gathering together for worship services becomes ordinary, do you still want to keep on? Do still have the same devotion that you used to have when you were new in your Christian life?

King David

King David had a very cinematic and interesting life. The Lord gave him almost every practical thing he needed, an ideal kind of life for many people. Yet, there was just one thing King David wanted. He said in Psalm 27:4, 4One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

King David found no contentment outside the house of the Lord. He found satisfaction on the beauty of the Lord. This is something that many believers should realize, to personally experience and find rest in the Lord, even in the midst of many urgent things to be done.
The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29, 28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

The Israelites did not complain when they were told to march around Jericho. They didn’t bother to ask why it needed to march for 6 days. They did not doubt if they were victorious against Jericho or not. They obeyed the Lord. No worry nor weary. To obey the Lord is to find rest for the weary soul.

2. Obedient

15On 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. 16The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17The 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.

The Israelites obeyed the Lord’s instruction just as they were told. They behaved harmoniously until Joshua gave them the signal to shout. Joshua gave them specific instructions right before they entered Jericho.
Obedience to the Lord is progressive just as faith in Christ is progressive. The Lord gives practical instruction for us to check our faith in Him. As the Lord deems it appropriate, He will give us another instruction right after the previous instruction is obeyed accordingly. As faith grows, obedience becomes ordinary.
Christians are expected to obey the Lord when His grace is at work. God gives one instruction after another. When there’s consistent obedience to the Lord, His voice becomes more audible to hear.
Disobedience to the Lord makes the voice of the Lord cloudy and blurred. Disobedience keeps faith stagnant. Obedience to the Lord helps believers to grow mature spiritually.
When you sense like the Lord is silent, ask and pray that God would reveal to you the command He wanted you to obey but you ignored or failed to obey.

18But 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. 19All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”

Why did the Lord not allow them to take the fruit of their firsst victory? The gold, silver, bronze and iron from the first city they conquered belong to God, why?
Bringing to Lord the things that He told them bring is an acknowledgment that the Lord gave them victory. Many preachers and theologians strongly advise, and many believers have proven it that when they give all their first salary to the Lord, they observed and experienced more of the Lord’s provision.

New Employee

A young believer approached his pastor and asked about giving tithes. He asked, “Is it okay to pay first my bills before I give my tithes?” The pastor said, “The Bible teaches that tithes are rightful share of God. Giving God’s tithes is a practical evidence of our faith in God. Many believers give all their first salary to the Lord. They also regularly give God’s tithes because they believe that God would bless them more. Pray and ask God to give you the right decision.”
Like the young believer, many are struggling of giving the rightful share of God, why? It displays how little faith they have in God. Some believers would reason out that giving God’s tithes should be based on they interpret tithing and not necessarily 10% as the Bible teaches.
When the Bible is interpreted to suit or accommodate our lifestyle, it won’t take very long before everything in the Bible will be misinterpreted. God made His commands very simple to understand. Obedience proves that faith is active.
It says in Hebrews 11:1, 1Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

How do you practically display your hope in God? Have you practically proven your faith in God? King David wrote his personal experience of hope in the Lord. In Psalm 25:21, 21May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you… In Psalm 33:18, 18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.

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