# 68

2.21.12

I sometimes hate thinking of titles... Inspired by DMB, I went with #68 as it's my 68th post… boring title ≠ boring post… hopefully :/

aaanyway...

Lent. A discipline I know/knew far too little about...

Five minutes on google, and I found basically that it's not anywhere in the bible, but rather it was a tradition formed several hundred years after the formation of the church and was originally meant as a 'cleanse' of sins for those who would be baptized forty days following ash wednesday on Easter. Church tradition wrapped itself around this practice, and eventually whole communities were partaking in this 'cleansing' in support of those who were to be baptized… ya ya… stick with me:)

I love the discipline tho…

It comes at a perfect time for me. As did the section of scripture I read this morning… Going now through Joshua, I found myself living in chapters 7 & 8 as I sipped my coffee and ate my morning banana…

So a little background… Joshua has just taken the reigns from Moses, and like Moses he too crossed a dried up river (during flood season)with the power of the lord, delivering His people yet again. He - in an incredibly beautiful act of faith - marched seven days around the walls of Jericho... their faithfulness rewarded as the walls would topple on that seventh day, trumpets sounding, the Lord would give Jericho over to them… after forty years in the desert, the faithful are being delivered.

So Jericho topples, and they're told by the lord to avoid the 'devoted things', for 'all the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred..' (6:19)…

Basically… 'Don't take anything valuable for yourself… but still act faithfully and do what I have commanded you, take Jericho' - God


So, I'll give you the nutshell of what I read this morning because I wanna get to the point, but if u have time, check it out (joshua7&8)..!.

Joshua and his forces are defeated in attacking the city of Ai, he proceeds to tear his clothing and pleeead with God for deliverance, asking him why in the world he would dry up a stinkin' river, move His people across it, tumble Jericho… do ALL these things and more, only to be defeated/demoralized at the hands of Ai and its people.

Legit question really. Better answer tho…

Someone in the Israelite camp had gone against God in taking plunder for himself at Jericho, and had hid it. God knew… And with this infection present, God tells Joshua that this "is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction." (7:12).

Whew…

So what now then? There must be a cleansing…

The Lord walks Joshua through a process whereby the culprit is revealed, given the chance of repentance - and by the lords command - erased from the earth along with what he stole.

Greed man… its all over…

With Israel now cleansed, the Lord tells Joshua he will deliver Ai over, giving the israelites what he had promised. Here's the crazy part, the lord tells Joshua "You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves.!!." (8:2)

"Your gift for being faithful… and not driven by greed, but by My commands, My goodness" -God


In light of Lent - in light of my life - this story was the perfect gift this morning…

There are things in my life I know I need cleansing from, and in my most intimate - 'to thine own self be true' - moments, I knooow this…

Joshua & Jericho… painfully walking round the city seven days… it was delivered and the walls tumbled just as the Lord said they would, but 'don't take anything!'.

Ai, do the same exact thing… 'but this time enjoy the plunder… a gift for being faithful, enduring, trusting'

If only Achan (the guy who stole from Jericho after its defeat) would've known the importance of heeding the Lords calling, that he too might now enjoy the many riches which instead drew his heart from his God, leading to his destruction…

Ash Wednesday is tomorrow… and again I was curious…

Well… turns out its the first day of Lent where ashes are often mixed with some sort of holy water or oil, and then drawn on the forehead in the shape of a cross. I read too somewhere that often people will write on paper what it is they need 'cleansing' from, and then burn that paper, spreading those ashes on their head dwelling in fast throughout the whole day on what it is they will experience deliverance from in the coming Lenten season.

Anyway… might be boring stuff to most people, and it was to me before just recently too…

But seeing how Joshua was instructed by God to purge the Israelite camp of its filth before they could be used by God… this made me curious about taking part in a similar cleanse…

So, although Lent isn't anywhere in the bible, I want to - starting tomorrow morning with ash, oil & prayer - spend a period of time in cleansing… I'm hungry and in need of this… in the best of ways. I don't feel the need to go into what it is I am intimately giving up to the Lord, but I would encourage - if you've read this far - to spend some time thinking about these stories, this season of lent, and the gift of God which awaits those who present themselves as faithful in pursuing the sometimes difficult commands of the spirit(Jericho). Then in a pure light being cleansed from unrighteousness (Achan) where the Lord can now hold you warmly in His perfect hands, giving hope for today, and eyes for tomorrow…

And of course,it all comes back to Jesus, the Son which cleanses… delivering through his death & resurrection the gift of the spirit which will hover above and within as I journey this next week, learning new discipline, leaning on the spirit to give power in moments of weakness & temptation…

The whole purpose..?. its my gift (so small but so significant) to my maker … a display of my affection for Him and a way of saying thanks for all he has blessed me with. It's a pouring out… a re-throning of the Spirit in my life, giving His touch - the same touch which delivered Moses & Joshua with glooory - authority and creative license over my life and it's direction.

Important disciplines. Discipline, important.

Ha..

Really… SOOO much between these lines theologically as well as personally… would welcome any questions/discussion as there really is sooo much more…

Be well, friends!