One More River To Cross

Joshua 3:9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.

Now Israel would never have crossed Jordan, nor would they have entered their Promised Land if they hadn’t been willing to come and hear what God had to say. Did God speak to them individually? No He didn’t. He used Joshua to carry the word and the priests to show the way. The Holy Ghost still speaks to each of, just like Joshua, and God still uses the priesthood to show the way. We must either do it God’s way; or try to do it our own way. I’m afraid that “our own way” just won’t be good enough.

Joshua 3:15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

The harvest time had come; and with the harvest comes the latter rains in Israel. The rain had caused the Jordan River to rise above its banks and flood the area. According to the geologists, the Jordan River has a 700 foot drop from the Sea if Galilee to the Dead Sea. When the water is low, it moves fast, but is slowed by the twists and turns in the river, but at flood stage it rushes in a straight torrent of white water for long stretches and can be nearly a mile wide. That’s what the river must have looked like as they camped beside it.

I can only take you to the edge of the water, but no further. From there on, you must take hold of the hand of our Great High Priest and let Jesus lead you over to the other side. There is a limit to what an earthly priest can do. I can’t save you. I can’t heal you. I can’t carry you over Jordan’s tide. I will one day have to leave you and forsake you, but Jesus will be there will you all the way.

That’s a picture for you and I of the Jordan that lies before us, dark, foreboding, too hard to overcome and impossible to cross. I’ve read the story by John Bunyan many times called Pilgrim’s Progress and I bought the movie made from the book just yesterday. Perhaps if it’s worth the effort, we will have a movie night here at the church and let everyone who wants to, come and watch it. The story is great; but I haven’t seen the movie version.

One scene in that story is where Pilgrim and his friend Faithful come to the river of death and go into the waters. For Pilgrim the waters seem impossible to cross and he begins to fear that he will never see Heaven but die in those waters. Faithful crosses the same river but to him it seems shallow and much easier to cross. The key point is that the river is only as deep as your faith and trust is in God’s promises. If you live in doubt and fear, that day will not be a pleasant one for you. If you live in faith and trust; that crossing will be easy. Both Pilgrim and Faithful made it over because of their love for Jesus; but how they made that crossing was greatly different.