9:14 So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. 15 Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath.
I had a deadline with my accounting work of Jan. 31st. I really prayed about it and gave it to God, acknowledging that I would never meet that deadline unless He did it for me. And guess what? I met the deadline. And guess what else? I found that I didn't thank Him or give Him credit. I pretty much took credit for it myself, saying I met the deadline. Forgive me God. I was convicted of that when I read this:
10:12 On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said......
When God gave them victory, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people....ouch! That's why God's word is so important. It gets us onto the right track. It convicts us. God uses it to teach us and to remind us of His goodness and the fact that He is the one who takes care of us. Human nature makes us want to take credit for things on our own. But God reminds us that all good things come from Him.
This last section is a reminder of how important it is to 'personally' have an experience with God, not just second hand knowledge told to us.
24:31 The people of Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him—those who had personally experienced all that the Lord had done for Israel.
If you just 'hear about' God, but don't personally experience His goodness and power, chances are you won't serve Him. And even if you do personally experience His goodness and power, the temptation is still to go off and 'do your own thing', to examine things and make decisions without consulting Him.
God, please help us to learn these lessons from Your Word.
I find that I especially will pray for something and then when the prayer is answered, I tend to forget about the fact I prayed for it and don't thank God. I need to watch out more for this.
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