Get Your Feet Wet…

 ⁹ Joshua said to the Israelites (in Joshua 3), “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. ¹⁰ This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. ¹¹ See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. ¹² Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. ¹³ And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”  ¹⁴ So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. ¹⁵ Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶ the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away….

Joshua gathered the Israelites together to demonstrate to them without a doubt that they worshipped the Almighty God.  He knew their God would go before them and remove the peoples who inhabited the land promised to Abraham many years ago.  Put Him first, trust in Him, live in a manner that glorifies His name and the Promised Land would be theirs.  However, to get there they had to get across the Jordan River.  Joshua gave them clear instructions.  Let the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant (the presence of God) go first.  Put Him first.  It was their God Who would deliver not because of their abilities.  They could continue to prepare, pray, discuss other options, etc. as long as they wanted but nothing would occur until the priests’ feet got wet.  “Yet, as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶ the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away…The Israelites walked across the Jordan on solid land but not until the priests got their feet wet.

In Luke 17, 10 lepers were not healed until they took a step.  ¹⁴ When Jesus saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.  Once the lepers took a step of obedience, they were healed.  Until they took that step, nothing would have come into being.

What is it in your life that you need to get your feet wet or take a step forward?  Is it taking a step towards your wife or kids to reconcile your relationship?  You may not feel like it is your fault.  Take a step of mercy and grace.  You may need a new job.  The step you may need to take is towards developing some new skill (I am watching a brother right now do this and he is pushing 50).  You may be a single person who needs to meet others.  Take a step to a healthy place.  Or, even freshly divorced when you never wanted the divorce.  Find a wholesome, Godly divorce care group and take a step to go to an initial meeting.  You may be struggling with an addiction that has made a mess out of your life.  Take a step toward a Christ based recovery program.  For us to see a miracle of healing (mental, emotional, physical and most especially spiritual) or discover something new, we have to take a step.

Get your feet wet!

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