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Read: Joshua 3:4
Listen: Joshua 3

But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark; do not go near it. Joshua 3:4

God’s people receive clear directions. Follow the ark. When it moves, you move. When it stops, you stop. Simple enough. But they must remember one key instruction: keep your distance! The ark is not a mere box God told them to make; it is the location of His presence among them. Israel knows God’s presence is terrifying! He is the one who split the Red Sea and brought Egypt to its knees. He is the Holy One, the Creator who is pure, beautiful and powerful. To try to come to God on their terms is to tempt death. God desires proximity, but it must be on his terms. Israel must honor God.

We also share Israel’s command to honor God. The same God who guided Israel into the land of promise is the one who revealed himself in Jesus. He longs for proximity and relationship, but it must be on his terms. Honor means submitting to his authority. It means trusting that his commands are not only good advice, they are the way we’re meant to live. When it’s costly and when it’s weird. When it doesn’t fit into the tidy box of a political party or the expectations of a social class. We are to honor Jesus with our lives. We pray for our enemies. We abstain from intimacy outside of marriage. We share our faith and notice the poor. When we live under God’s authority, we honor him.

TODAY: Pray: Heavenly Father, I confess that there are ways I fail to honor you by submitting to your Word. Reveal to me where I fall short and provide me the grace to obey in the future.