joshua 21 devotional

Once devotional writers, always devotional writers! :) This Sunday we had the opportunity to delve into Joshua 21 and write a devotional with our small group. Please post your devotionals here!

Generous God, Generous People

...Jattir with its pasturelands, Esthemoa with its pasturelands, Holon with its pasturelands... Why is Joshua so careful to enumerate each city (with its pasturelands) as opposed to giving us a summary? It's because God is serious about keeping His promises. He is careful to make sure every detail is addressed and will not allow even an iota to be overlooked. His care for the Israelites is shown in His desire to bless His people faithfully. God is not afraid of repeating His Words over and over. In fact, in this repetition we actually see the Father's joy in keeping His promises and giving good gifts to His people. 

The Levites are not given an allotment of land of their own; rather, in keeping with God's Word to Moses they are given cities from among the eleven tribes to dwell in, along with pasturelands for their livestock (v.2). This means that they were dispersed throughout the Israelites. The Levitical tribe was given the vocation of serving the people as priests, helping them to remember the Lord's Word and His goodness. The people in turn were to share their crops and their land with the Levites, in recognition that the land was a gift from God which was to be shared as God commanded. Sharing God's blessing, both spiritual and physical, was how the Israelites as a whole were meant to live long and well in the Promised Land for generations to come. 

Redeemer, on Thanksgiving weekend, we celebrate God's goodness to our community and His abundance of joy in being our God. The Promised Land is symbolic of new life, and it is a gift from God that we are called to share freely with others, not to hoard greedily for ourselves. How will we share our new life? For the baptized, thinking of the recent baptism event, share your testimonies! Share the stories of how you experience God's presence with you throughout the week, how you see Him answering prayers. Pray together. With the new "Pray it Forward" project, you have lots of opportunities to reach out and encourage one another (both near and far) through prayer. Pray and ask God to show you creative ways to share your life with others, be it through sharing your time, sharing your allowance, sharing a McDonalds happy meal/Chatime roasted milk tea with grass jelly -- be generous and give freely because our joyful God who delights in His people first gave freely to us. (Matthew 10:8) Amen.

- Ying and Rowena