Crossing Your River Jordan with the Lord
Then Joshua told the people,
“Make yourselves holy, because tomorrow
the Lord will do amazing things among you.”
(Joshua 03: 05)
The exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to the 'Promised Land' was a journey of suspense. It was a mass migration of people who were moving away from slavery to liberty and desperation to fulfilment. The presence of God led them through His own ways of amusement, discipline, delays and miracles. The Israelites, through every delayed hour and day, learned that the power of the Lord was sufficient for the new nation of Israel to survive. After forty years of life in the wilderness of the desert, they reach the promised land.
A journey that would have otherwise lasted only a few days was stretched to four decades of learning. The eyes and ears of every surviving Israelite who is now camped near the final phase of this historical journey - the crossing of River Jordan - has seen and heard of the mighty wonders and the great miracles that the Lord did in the midst of them. Here is the moment! The long-awaited day. The heart of every Israelite was yearning and waiting to see this day. With years of unchanging faith and immovable belief, these hearts have been waiting to witness the promise of God coming true in their lives. They just had to cross the River Jordan, and there they would enter the promised land. You and I, with hearts full of yearning and excitement, maybe standing right there in our lives today. Right one step before the realisation of God's promise. You would know very well, that it is just one more day, one more week, just another click on your phone, just the next ringing, just the next report from the medical laboratory, just the next notification on your mail inbox and just the next knock on your door would be that realisation of God's promise in your life! Yes. And I would like to take you to what Joshua, the one who was leading the Israelites into the 'Promised Land', said to them right here.
Joshua 03: 01 - 05 says "Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia. They travelled to the Jordan River and camped there before crossing it. After three days the officers went through the camp and gave orders to the people: “When you see the priests and Levites carrying the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord your God, leave where you are and follow it. That way you will know which way to go since you have never been here before. But do not follow too closely. Stay about a thousand yards behind the Ark. Then Joshua told the people, 'Make yourselves holy because tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.'" Joshua reminds every Israelite who is eagerly waiting to see the realisation of God's promise on the other side of the river, that they need to be holy. They had to prepare themselves to see the fulfilment that the blessing God is going to bring among them. They had to make themselves ready to meet the Lord through the celebration of what He is going to do for them. Every person had to be holy!
I find these words of history pronounced by Joshua, as recorded in the Bible, to be a call for the holiness of every one of us who are eager to realise the promises of God. Even after long years of waiting and faithfulness, if you want to celebrate the promise of the Lord that is just on the other side of this final crossing, then you need to prepare yourself and make yourself holy by the grace of the Lord Jesus. Joshua also reminds the Israelites (in verse 11) "The Ark of the Agreement with the Lord of the whole world will go ahead of you into the Jordan River." The Lord is going to go ahead of you into this beautiful and wonderful blessing that you are waiting and you need to go with the Lord. You need to prepare yourself to go with Him. You need to free yourself from sins and be ready to cross the river with Him.
You would have been someone who was faithfully waiting on the Lord for this blessing for a long time. There would have been times of desperation, yearning, crying, learning and falling. You would have learned so many secrets of a faith-filled life through this long wait and the hard journey. And now, as you stand before this last phase, your River Jordan, you know that the promised blessing is just on the other side. You need to remember the words of Joshua. Make yourself holy because very soon the Lord will do amazing things among you. And if you are wanting to get that fulfilment of this long-awaited God-given blessing, then you need to prepare yourself and make yourself holy by trusting in the grace of our Lord Jesus and with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Since all blessings and good things come from the Lord, you need to prepare yourself to receive and to enjoy what God gives you. The bible also says, "Try to live in peace with all people and try to live free from sin. Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). Anything God-given demands godliness. And the most accurate and simple way to be godly is to love one another and to be free from sin. Surely it will be a wonderful and fulfilling experience to receive the blessing of God with a holy and peace-loving heart. Your blessing will be greater than you ever imagined it to be.
I pray that the Lord will help all of us to make ourselves prepared by freeing ourselves from sin and to share the love of God around us so that we would realise the fulfilment of God's blessings through His promises. I pray that you will cross your River Jordan with holiness and thankfulness in your heart and as you receive the promised blessing may you know that you are with the Lord and the Lord is with you.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
