Victory’s Battle Cry—A Study in Joshua Part 7—A Matter of the Heart
So, the children of Israel had crossed over Jordan and were going to take possession of the land that God had promised to Abraham so many years before. Imagine their excitement and the eagerness they must have been feeling to move on further; yet, they waited calmly at their first destination. There was no mention of grumbling, impatience or fear among these who had been chosen. In fact, you may find it strange that there they stopped and Joshua circumcised the people before they moved any further. They then tarried there until all were healed. This was an act of surrendering faith born from hearts that loved, feared, and awed at who God had proven Himself to be. They knew that the armies of the land which had caused their parents to tremble and doubt, could easily come and attack while they were all weakened from the surgery; yet, there was no doubt here. Everyone surrendered to the knife cutting away their flesh. The circumcision was not what would save them any more than the law had been able to cause them to be victorious. It was merely symbolic of the circumcision that had already occurred in their heart. They were willing to sit and wait for God to say “Go”.
art is courtesy of istockphoto.com
They had glimpsed at God’s Glory and they desired to be a people who worshipped God. They had been captivated by His Glory, His Beauty, His Honesty, His Power, and His Abiding Love. Their hearts had been transformed into hearts that sought after God and that loved God with all their heart, all their soul, and all their strength.
They had learned that the letter of the law could not save them; but, it would have
to be a transformed heart that had been changed by the power and spirit of God. Just, as God had promised in: Deuteronomy 30(GNV) “ 5 And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it, and he will show thee favor, and will multiply thee above thy fathers. 6 And the Lord thy God will [e]circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, that thou mayest love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.”
This act of circumcision was an outward sign of the transforming work within their hearts. They could not live a Holy life, obey the law, or love God as they should without a transformed heart. The only one who could transform their heart was God through the working of the Spirit. Romans 2: (GNV) 29 But he is a Jew which is one within, and the circumcision is of the heart, in the [a]spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Many, much like the Pharisees of Christ’s Day; try to follow the letter of the law. There are many who even give forth the illusion of following all of the commands but do so for the applause of men and not out of a contrite heart that bows in servitude to its Master and King. True salvation comes when the spirit begins to write the law on our hearts and we fall madly in love with Christ. We desire Him and seek Him above all else that this world could offer us. All who accept Christ as their Savior, wooed by the spirit of God are being grafted into the family of God. We then are becoming the Children of the Promises because God has chosen to circumcise our hearts and cut away the fleshly desires.
This truth is elaborately detailed by Paul in Romans 11.
Do you remember a time or a moment when you could truly say that you had fallen deeply, madly in love with Christ? Has that trust, faith, and hope faded along the way? Have you taken your eyes off of Him as your greatest treasure?
Ask Him today to open the eyes of your heart that you might see a glimpse of His Glory so that you might desire Him with all your heart, your mind, and your soul. Then He will transform your heart from the inside out with the work of the Holy Spirit, so that you will become victorious against the darts of sin within your own heart.
Then, relish in His presence. Listen to this beautiful hymn written and sung by Dennis Jernigan. “I Don’t Want to Move.”
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written
© 2014 Effie Darlene Barba
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