There are three events in the Bible that involved great amount of water. In Genesis, God removed all the nonbelievers and old creations with a flood, except those lives in Noah’s ark. The ark represents the church. We should all believe in God, and lead people into the ark, which is the church. In Exodus, God sent Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. God then drowned the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. Egypt represents the world. We have left the world that is full of sins due to God’s salvation. When we make attempt to leave the world, the world will chase us like the Egyptian army that chased the Israelis. The world will not let us go so easily, but God will destroy our enemy with the water of the Red Sea. The third event that involved a great deal of water is documented in Joshua. After Moses, Joshua continued to lead the Israelis, and this time God showed us that He wants us to cross the Jordan River in our lives to removed our old selves. We have to lay down of our old perceptions and old ways of thinking, and we need to see people and things through the eyes of God.
God had told Joshua, from the first chapter of Joshua, to rise. Have you heard God’s calling for you to rise up? Get equipped, get ready to serve, and be prepared to cross the Jordan River! If we go to church just to sit there and listen to the preaches, and if we do not practice what we hear, we could not experience God or establish a relationship with Him. Even if we have gone to church for years, and we may be seniors on the outside, our lives would still be like that of a child if we do not take actions about what we have been preached. Joshua knew the law, and he understood God’s principle, because he was Moses aid for a long time. Joshua was trained and equipped, so when God told him to rise, he could stand up and lead the Israelis with wisdom.
We may be afraid when we come to the billowy Jordan River, however, God does not ask us to cross the river alone. God commanded that the Ark of the Covenant cross the river first, which shows us that God is always ahead of us. Each one of us is the carrier of the Ark of the Covenant today. When we follow the footsteps of God, we need to have the faith to cross the river, and we need to have faith in our leader. Remember that God has given leaders the authority to lead His people.
There are two kinds of God’s works on us. The first one is visible, and the other is invisible. The Israelis took 12 stones to Gilgal in memory of God’s miracle; this is a visible work. When The Israelis were crossing the river, they also set up 12 stones at the spot where the priest had stood; this is a invisible work because the stone were covered by water afterward. God’s influence on us can be both outwardly and inwardly. In many cases, the invisible works are more important than the visible ones.
We often ask, “is God on my side?” or “Does it mean that God doesn’t love me if He is not on my side?” It is common that we pray and think in our own ways, but we seldom realize that our ways are often the wrong ways. Now, will you choose to be on God’s side? Will you choose to stand by the Bible? Every decisions God makes for us can only be right and good for us. Although you may feel uncomfortable at first, but when you are willing to be on God’s side, you will find that the blessings are more than what you’ve asked for or imagined.
