Prepare: As a researcher I am aware that there is a danger of overlooking things experienced regularly – a blind spot for the familiar. What do you take for granted? Taken for granted The people had grown up with the Law. Many could recite whole passages of the Torah and families passed down the words of God through their generations. It might appear to the casual observer that God’s Word was vital to Israelite life. But no, the people had become overfamiliar with the text and the Law. They could recite it mechanically, talk about it theoretically, pass it on religiously, but failed to practise it incarnationally. It was so familiar it was taken for granted. Living the Law So Joshua reminded the people of the importance of practising the Law as well as knowing the Law: he built a new altar and led the people in making offerings; he carved God’s Word into stones, reminding the people that this was God’s Law. He gathered the assembly around the Ark of the Covenant which contained the Law and then read it aloud, all through, leaving nothing out. Women, children and foreigners were included in the crowd. So Joshua demonstrated through the concrete examples of the altar, the offerings, the stone tablets, the inclusive crowd that God’s Law is alive, real, for all people and should not be taken for granted. Respond: The psalmist says, ‘how I love your law, I meditate on it all day long’ (Psalm 119:97, NIV). Ask God to give you that same love for his Word and desire to make it real in your life. wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-05-25
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 14:46:51 +0000
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