Sermon.985
“God Is In Our Day-By-Day Activities”
Text: Joshua Chapters 1-19
Key Verse: Joshua 18:10
Do you ever compare yourself with other people?
Do you ever look across the fence and think that the grass might be greener on the other side?
Do you try to keep up with the Joneses?
Do you ever look at people who may drive a better car than you, wear nicer clothes than you, live in a larger house than you, who may have a nice boat parked in the garage, and you itch to have those kinds of things?
Perhaps you just feel uneasy about your present situation.
You’re not competing with anybody specifically, yet as time marches on, you don’t see much progress toward your personal goals.
Believe it or not, these type of questions tell you that God has set your boundary lines, and He is working in your present day situation to accomplish His purpose.
I. God is in the ordinary day-by-day activities of life!
The text I chose to read in preparation for this sermon is Joshua chapters 11-19.
You can easily see that this text is too lengthy to read during our time allotted this morning.
So, what I would like for you to do is to scan these chapters sometime today or this coming week in your daily Bible reading.
Joshua chapters 11-19 doesn’t read easy like the Gospels or Psalm 23 which flows evenly from one verse to another.
Joshua chapters 11-19 are mostly about war and land distribution, as the Israelites divide the spoils of imperialism in a spiritual act for the glory of God.
Chapter 10 of Joshua tells us about a time in Bible history when God caused our sun to stand still.
The land distribution was an installment in God’s plan of salvation stretching from Abraham to Jesus, and even beyond Jesus to us.
These things the Israelites did to glorify God were the ordinary things of life to them.
What about us today and our day-by-day activities of life?
Preparing the daily meals, washing the dishes, picking up toys children have played with, mowing the grass, doing home repairs, working on the family car; doing the family shopping; there’s no end to the activities that occupy our time, and most people work at least 40 hours each week.
Have you stopped to think that God is working through your day-by-day activities right where you live?
Jesus knows all the aspects of the home and community in which you live.
He is the eternal Son of God who lived from eternity past in glory with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
Christ lives today in His glory in heaven and within your heart if you have invited Him to take up residence there.
When Christ lived on Earth for 33 years he was a carpenter by trade.
Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the little boy who was hanging around where his pastor was repairing a picket fence.
The pastor said, "Son, you don’t have to stay here with me all day."
The little boy replied, "I just want to hear what a preacher says when he hits his finger with a hammer!"
Do you think Jesus ever hit his finger with a hammer?
Did Jesus know what it was like to sweat and do hard work?
Did He know what it was like to deal with a disagreeable customer?
Most probably, the answer to those three questions is “Yes!”
God doesn’t call us to escape the ordinary day-to-day activities of life.
He doesn’t expect us to become so heavenly minded that we’re of no earthly good.
What we need to realize is that right here in our neck of the woods God is at work through our day-by-day activities.
II. If God is in the ordinary day-by-day activities of life, God is also the Supreme Ruler over them.
In Joshua 18:10, one verse of our 9 chapter text, we see God ruling over the day-by-day activities of the Israelites.
“Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord, and there he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions.”
The 12 tribes did not get to choose where they wanted to live!
Joshua cast lots to divide the land, and the allocation of all this property came down to a roll of the dice.
The people’s inheritance all boiled down to luck of the draw, but remember that God was the Overseer of this secular activity.
In Proverbs 16:33, the writer says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
So, the land distribution wasn’t a free-for-all.
God placed each tribe exactly where He wanted them.
Some of God’s people would be farmers, others shepherds, still others, fishermen.
God was not only in the daily activities, but He was ruling over them to place the tribes in their respective places so they could work for His glory and honor.
God will also establish you as His holy people, if you keep His commands and walk in His ways.
If you obey His covenants, God promises to bless your labor.
See how it works.
Rather than complain and grumble about your lot in life, see your day-by-day activities as an opportunity to serve Christ and bring honor and glory to God.
God has foreordained every situation in your life; every ordinary day-to-day activity, even your personal skills in life, so you can introduce to others a message of hope and meaning that brings glory to God.
Your faithful service to God in the place He has put you will yield a spiritual harvest of abundance in the kingdom of God.
III. God is in the daily activities of life. God is Ruler over the daily activities of life. And third, we can say that God is good in the daily activities of life.
The various land allotments given to each tribe teach us that God is good for His people.
The psalmist said in Psalm 16:6 “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”
Have the boundary lines God has placed in your life fallen in pleasant places?
Each Israelite family could find joy in the situation God foreordained for them.
I pray the same is true for you and I.
God has sovereignly arranged the details of our life.
God made an entire set of decisions for you before you were born: your parents, your nationality, your language you speak, even your individual talents and skills.
You didn’t get to pick the color of your eyes, the color of your skin, your athletic abilities, or even your I.Q.
Still, we worry about our lot in life!
We constantly compare our situation to the situation of others and often think the grass is greener on the other side.
Remember the next time you’re dissatisfied with something in life that God has drawn your boundary lines.
Then humbly thank God for His goodness to you and renew your commitment to do His will forever, wherever He has placed you to serve.
God has called all of us to serve Him faithfully in the activities He places before us day-by-day.
It is there that others will see your good works as a response to God’s divine grace, and you will glorify your Father who is in heaven.
During our invitation time this morning, renew your pledge of dependability to God the Father, and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Examine your life’s situation right where you are in life and renew your personal commitment to serving God in His kingdom work.
Would you do that this morning as we stand and sing?
