PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (Conviction): Forgive me today, Father. I have been so busy with other things, that I have not given dedicated quiet time to You over the last 3 days. I had a lot of people in town to celebrate my military retirement and I used them as an excuse to not do my quiet times, unfortunately. Please forgive me for my disobedience in this and forgive me for losing my consistency in my quiet times. I have been doing so well over the last year and I am ashamed to admit that I went 3 days in a row without doing a full quiet time. Help me to get back on track, Father. Help me to embrace this new work schedule and the “new normal” of my day-to-day so that my quiet times with You become the top priority again. I know it’s only been 3 days since I did my last quiet time, but for the way I’ve been in the past it is VERY easy for me to break a habit, whether good or bad, and I do not want to stop our conversations in any way.
PROMISE (verse 2): You made a promise to Your people that they would claim a great land inheritance. This promise has been coming to fulfillment in the book of Joshua and now we are down to the last few tribes. Thank You for not only making such amazing promises to Your people, Father, but also for being faithful to Your promises.
ATTITUDE (verse 3): I find this statement by Joshua rather profound. He recognized Your promise to Your people about a land inheritance, but also recognized that some of the tribes were dragging their feet in claiming their inheritance. You are literally sitting there with open hands trying to give them their inheritance and it’s like they are looking away and getting distracted with other things to the point that they have not taken claim to their inheritance from You. Help me to never embrace an attitude like this, Father. Help me to never be one to drag my feet when it comes to claiming what You are giving to me.
COMMAND (verse 3): I tend to see this verse as also implying a command to Your people. You are commanding them to claim what is theirs, which You have given them. The command is for them to take the actions needed to claim their inheritance. You have already fulfilled Your promise and made it theirs, but if they aren’t willing to take the action to claim it then that’s on them. That’s like me going to a bank and withdrawing money. They teller puts the money on the counter, but I just leave it there and walk away. My money was there for me to claim, but I chose not to take the appropriate steps to claim it as my own. Instead, I decided to walk away from it.
EXAMPLE (verses 4, 6, 8): I always find it funny when You repeat Yourself, even repeating Yourself through Your prophets, disciples, and such. Here, Joshua said three times for the tribes to make sure they write a detailed description of the inheritance they are claiming. He said it to the tribe leaders, then he said he to those chosen to do the survey in front of the tribe leaders, then he said it again to those chosen to do the survey just before they left. I guess this is Your way of showing us that You know just how stubborn we can be at times, so You have to repeat Yourself at times to make sure we’re actually going to do what You tell us to do. I am the epitome of this, unfortunately, as I am very forgetful and hard-headed. Thanks for the repetition, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: Although it has been a few days since my last quiet time and today’s quiet time was interrupted for a bit, I am so grateful that I was able to have this conversation with You today, Father. It’s only been 3 days, but it feels like it has been forever since my last quiet time. Thank You for bringing me back, Father. Thank You for providing me with the lit-up steps to navigate my way back to You. I was beginning to become a bit lost, but You found me and brought me back. I am grateful that I chose to take the steps by getting this done instead of putting it off again. Now that all the guests are out of the house, I really have no excuses but to get back on track with my quiet times. Please keep me honest and consistent, Father.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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