Say WORD: Following the Lord

A few days ago, I revamped my daily Bible reading routine. I chose three books to read and settled to go through one chapter each every day. The books that I have chosen are: Genesis, Joshua and Daniel.

As my eyes grazed the text of Joshua, a hand reached out from the text and grabbed my face. It contorted my expression and I let out a small, “Eek.” My eyebrows were pulled up and eyes widened. To imagine what went down in the book of Joshua was painful.

At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.

– Joshua 5:2-3

On their journey to the land God promised them, Joshua and his people were increasing in number. Babies were popping out of every which way. We’re talking about building a nation here. However, due to the tasks and challenges the Lord warned them about, some children grew and eventually became men of military age.

When the Lord issued this decree, he wasn’t just talking about the babies. He had in mind the men, too. Ouch. The people in all of the land did not sleep for the next few days. The cries and shrieks kept them up those nights.

Personally, I wouldn’t like it if someone barged into my tent, wielding a sharp flint knife and exclaiming, “Drop ‘em!” A fight would go down. Oh, man.

But, you’ve got to admire Joshua’s willingness to follow the Lord. It wasn’t necessarily a challenging task; they weren’t going to pull off some dangerous secret mission, stirring up the armies of the world. The custom of circumcision was mandated by the Lord and, no matter what, Joshua was going to follow. The time wasn’t the issue. Whether or not he did it, though, was.

This is an attitude that we all should have when it comes to following the word of the Lord. I’m not saying that you should put it off, though; delaying God’s request is not a courteous gesture. What I’m saying is that the word of the Lord, his commands, should be first on our list. We should not be afraid to tote our flint knives and face the world, because we know who mandated us to do so.

Please note: I’m also not saying that you should go around with a flint knife and try to circumcise people. My second reference to the flint knife was metaphorical. To think that someone would try to do it, without proper training and licensing to do so, is scary. Please don’t do this.