March 7, 2019
Joshua 5:13-15                             
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”  “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”   The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
New International Version (NIV)
                 Our youngest son is a seminary student at Truett here on our campus.  He had his first big presentation and his first exam in the last week.  He was nervous, of course.  He has been out of college for a while.  How hard is a Master’s degree test?  He wants to succeed.  So he called me after he finished each one telling me ways he thought he did well and ways he could improve.  We all know the feeling of starting something new.   We wonder if we can do it.  I suppose Joshua felt that way as he looked at the fortified city of Jericho in the distance. 

                God called Joshua to lead his people into the promised land.  He promised to strengthen Joshua and to be with him everywhere he went.  But as he looked at the challenge before him, he might have been dismayed.  Then he saw a soldier like no other.  Immediately Joshua knew he could not defeat this soldier.  “Which team do you play for, sir?”  he asked (I paraphrase).  The angel answered, “I am captain of the Lord’s army.  I didn’t come to take sides.  I came to take over."  Joshua took off his shoes as Moses once had before a burning bush. 

                Spurgeon explains the scene this way:  “The children of Israel may be compared to a gallant vessel, prepared for a long voyage.  All of the cargo is on board, and everyone is in his place.  But why does she linger?  If we ask the one at the helm, he will tell us:  ‘We are waiting for the captain.’  This is precisely the condition of the church.  Having made preparations to act, we need the divine presence and we must pause for a while and seek it, prayerfully, that in his matchless power, we may go forward successfully.”  This is true of my church and yours today.
Let us seek the Lord together in prayer:    
Father, we have little confidence in ourselves.  Still we believe that you have prepared us for something greater than we now see.  We wait for you.  We will not go without you.  Show us your way.   When you say go, we will go.  If you say stop, we will stop.  Show us your way and we will do it.  We dare not be found fighting against you God.  You do not come to take sides in the conflicts of our world.  You come to take over.  We take off our shoes in your presence.  Today we stand in your presence on holy ground.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.    
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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