Joshua 3:1-17
Pray
Did you ever notice that as people, we’re kind of obsessed with weight?
We are always talking about how people in Hollywood are too skinny.
She's so skinny she must have to jump around in the shower just to get wet.
And even more than being obsessed with being skinny, we love to talk about how we’re getting too fat.
Last week I saw someone at Home Depot that I hadn't seen for years and she said, “Hi Pete, it's been a long time. Wow you got fat.”
I said, “thank you I've been working really hard at it, I'm glad you noticed.”
But we do like to talk about other people putting on weight, and about how we're putting on weight.
And because we're all obsessed about weight, there are all kind of diet stuff available for you.
If you want to buy a workout to help you lose it, then just turn on the t.v. and you and pick up a copy of P90X, Insanity, Brazil Butt lift, Hip Hop abs or a hundred other programs.
If you want to watch other people lose weight then just turn on the t.v. and you can see shows like The biggest loser or celebrity fit club or dance your butt off.
I'm guessing that almost all of us here right now have either had concerns about our weight, or are concerned about it at this very moment.
You probably heard about the guy who was trying to lose weight, but came to the office one day with two dozen donuts.
His co-workers asked him why he got donuts if he's trying to diet, and he answered, "Well, as I came to the corner where the donut shop was, I told God that if He wanted me to buy some donuts to have a parking spot open right in front of the shop. And low and behold, when I arrived there were two spots open right in front...on my 8th time around the block
Do you know what it takes to start to lose weight? (diet and exercise)
You see we know what it takes and we’re really good at talking about how we should diet and about how we should exercise.
But do you know what we’re really bad at? Dieting and exercising.
And until you actually go through with your plans, you’re never going to see any results.
And this is a similar situation that the Israelites were facing in our section of Scripture today.
We look to the book of Joshua.
Joshua has since taken over the leadership position of Moses, and is beginning the process of claiming the promised land for the Israelites.
And God tells Joshua how He wants them to travel.
He tells him, to have the priests carrying the ark of the covenant go before the people.
And have the people follow behind and not to close, because the ark is holy.
And then God goes onto tell Joshua, to reach the promised land, you must cross the Jordan river.
And we don’t have any boats, so when you get up to the Jordan…have the priests carrying the ark walk right into it.
And when they get into it, I’ll make the water stop so that all of the people can cross.
So the priests approach the Jordan, and they notice that they river is still in its flood stage.
Now we've had some pretty decent rainstorms in the past month here, so picture one of these big storms coming through and then picture the Brady river after they're done.
What does the Brady river look like?
It’s muddy, and moving really quickly…with all kinds of branches and stuff rushing down it.
Is it a good place to go swimming in?
Do you think you would be able to make it from one side to the other very easily?
Of course you will, drive across the bridge silly.
Well when the priests reached this section of the Jordon, they were looking at something very similar.
Now understand that the Jordon, is about half as wide as our river right here, but the terrain was a little different.
You see, the Jordon was really cut down into the land from the waters rushing by, so when you got in the Jordon…it wasn’t like getting into the ocean.
I don’t know about you, but when I get into the water…I kind of ease myself into it.
I start with my toes, and then very slowly work my way into it.
And little by little I keep moving forward until I’m the whole way in.
Well, you couldn’t do this with the Jordon.
With the Jordon, because it was cut into the earth so deeply…you were either in, or out.
And this was even more true at the flood stage.
When you stepped into the Jordon, there was no turning back.
So the priests knew that when the first couple of guys committed themselves to getting in, they were all committing themselves to it.
There was no turning back after they started to move forward.
And you can just picture them standing there, watching this rushing water fly right by them…wishing they had picked a different career choice.
“Why didn't I listen to Mom and become a shepherd?”
And if I was one of them standing there, I know exactly what I would be thinking.
I would think…”maybe we should just wait here until God stops the water, and then we can get in.”
Or I would say, “Hey guys, why don’t we just hang out for a while until the river isn’t in flood stage anymore.”
And I know that this is what I would do because we’ve always got an excuse of why not to do the stuff we know we should do.
It’s like dieting.
We say things like, “I’ll start my diet after the holidays.”…or “I don’t want to start my diet until after I use up all of the food I already have.”…or “Dieting is hard work, I’ll start it when I have more free time.”
We’re hoping that if we wait long enough, our weight will magically fall right off of our bodies.
Does it work?
But it’s more than just dieting that we take this stance with…we do the same thing with spiritual stuff.
And we’re either putting off the things that we know we should be doing for a more convenient time.
I’ll read my Bible and do my devotions when I get a little bit more free time.
I’ll donate more, when I get more.
I’ll stop committing this sin, maybe next week.
I’ll forgive this person, after a little more time.
I’ll spend more time with my family, when work slows down.
And we put off all of these things, pretending to ourselves that we’re actually planning on doing them someday.
And other times we’re not putting them off for a better time...we’re waiting for God to do something about it first.
If God wants me to forgive them, then He’ll put it in my heart.
If God wants me to give more money, then He’ll give me more money first.
If God wants me to give up this sin, then let Him take it away.
If God wants me to do this…then He’s got some work to do first don't you think.
And we stand at the riverside, waiting for God to stop the river before we even consider getting into it.
Let me tell you a true story. One summer morning, in Andover OH., after a long night of hard rain Ray Blankenship was preparing his breakfast. He looked out the window at the drainage ditch that ran past his house.
It was full of water from the rainstorm and was traveling at a very quick speed. Suddenly to his horror he saw a small girl being swept along in the rain-flooded ditch. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch disappeared with a roar underneath a road and then emptied into the main culvert. If the girl wasn’t out of the water before the culvert, there was little hope that she would make it.
Ray dashed out the door and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the floundering child. When he had finally gotten ahead of her, he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. Blankenship surfaced and was amazingly somehow able to grab the child’s arm. They tumbled end over end in the rushing water.
They were quickly approaching the culvert and Ray knew he had to do something or they would both be swept to their dooms. Within about three feet of the approaching culvert, Ray’s free hand felt something—possibly a rock—protruding from one bank. He clung desperately, but the tremendous force of the water threatened to tear him and the child away. “If I can just hang on until help comes,” he thought to himself.
Ray managed to hold on, but he did even better than that. By the time fire-department rescuers arrived, Blankenship had somehow managed to get the frightened girl up on the bank to safety. Both were treated for shock, but survived with little injury.
On April 12, 1989, Ray Blankenship was awarded the Coast Guard’s Silver Lifesaving Medal. The award is fitting, for this selfless person, who put himself at great risk for this stranger. The risk however was even greater than most people ever knew. You see, Ray Blankenship can’t swim.
It takes courage to make that leap into the water.
It takes courage to take that first step.
But more than that, just like Ray, it takes a willingness to take action simply because you know it’s right.
Not because you feel like it, not because you have a guarantee of success…but because you have faith that this is what God wants and it's the right thing to do.
When Moses spoke to the burning bush and God told him to go free his people, what did Moses say?
“I can’t do it God, I stutter and can’t talk in front of people.”
And God responded, “Moses this is what I want.”
So what did Moses do? He took that first step and approached Pharaoh, not knowing how he was going to do it.
When Jesus told the 10 lepers to go show themselves to the priests, where they already healed when he sent them?
No, they still had boils and lesions all over them.
But what did they do? They went anyway and they where healed on the way.
When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for God to find another way to save us all…did He put off God’s plan until a better day?
Did He wait until he felt comfortable with the plan?
No Jesus took the first step even though He was terrified.
When the priests came up to the flooding Jordan river, did they wait for the river to calm down?
Did they wait for God to do His miracle first?
What did they do?
They jumped in the water.
And only after they took action, did God live up to His part of the bargain.
And the water on their left side immediately stopped. And the water on their right side continued to empty into the Sea of Galilee.
And all of the Israelites where able to cross safely on dry ground, and eventually take the land that was promised to them.
But none of this would have happened if the priests didn't take the first step.
God is asking us to be people that are willing to take the first step.
If you want to loose weight, you don’t talk about dieting…and then hope it happens.
You take steps to make it a reality.
In the same way, we have to be willing to take the first step…and then watch God follow up on our willingness.
If God is calling you to forgive someone, then take the first step.
Don’t wait for the feeling of forgiveness to come into you…decide to forgive.
Start acting like towards them like they are forgiven, and then watch God do his magic.
God certainly will bring about this forgiveness, but you’ve got to get the ball rolling.
If you’re entering, or stuck in a depression…decide to get out of it.
Don’t wait until you feel better, because that’s not going to come on its own.
You’ve got to decide to feel better. You’ve got to commit to this depression stopping here.
And then take action to get yourself out of it.
If you feel God calling you to donate to a worthy cause, don’t wait for the money to come in before you give it out.
Take action, give…and then watch God meet your needs.
If you feel God wants you to change jobs, don’t wait for the job to come looking for you.
Go look for it.
If you think God wants you to tell somebody about Jesus, don’t wait for them to bring Him up.
You bring Him up.
If you think you should read your Bible more, don’t wait until you feel like reading it more.
Commit yourself to sitting down and reading it, and then let Him put the desire in your heart.
Don’t sit around anymore waiting for the right time, or waiting for God to do something first.
If you know something is right, then do something about it…and watch God follow up on what you have started.
He will part the river for you to make it across…but you’ve got to be willing to take the first step.
You’re don’t loose weight by talking about loosing weight, you loose weight by doing it.
You don’t grow closer to God by talking about growing closer to God…you grow closer by doing it.
Commit yourself today to being people of action…not just people of words.
So whatever river is standing before you today, take that first step of faith and get in and I promise you that God will part the waters for you.
