OCTOBER 2, 2015
We Have Fruit!
I
gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build. — Joshua 24:13
Read:
Joshua
24:2,8-14
The young mother sighed as she scraped
together lunch for her 3-year-old daughter. Spying the empty fruit basket on
the table in their tiny kitchen, she sighed and said aloud, “If we just had a
basket of fruit, I would feel rich!” Her little girl overheard her.
Weeks passed. God sustained the small family.
Still, the struggling mom worried. Then one day her little girl bounded into
the kitchen. “Look, Mommy, we’re rich!” she exclaimed, pointing at the full
fruit basket on the table. Nothing had changed except that the family had
purchased a bag of apples.
When Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, was
about to die, he shared a message from the Lord that recounted all God had done
for them. And he noted, “You lived in the wilderness for a long time” (Josh.
24:7). Then he said, “[God] gave you a land on which you did not toil and
cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive
groves that you did not plant” (v. 13). Joshua set up a large stone to remind
Israel of God’s provision (v. 26).
Like the Israelites, after a time of challenge
and scarcity, that family now lives in a different place and enjoys fruit trees
in a spacious yard, planted years earlier by a previous owner. If you visit
them, you’ll find a bowl of fruit in their kitchen. It reminds them of God’s
goodness and how a 3-year-old infused her family with faith, joy, and
perspective.
Thank God for how He has provided in the past.
Thank Him for what He will do. Ask Him what He wants you to do. Then trust Him.
Remembering God’s provision for yesterday gives hope and
strength for today.
INSIGHT:
In Genesis 15, God promised Abraham that He
would give his descendants possession of a great stretch of land that was
occupied by other people. Several hundred years later, under the leadership of
Joshua, God fulfilled His promise, and the people of Israel took possession of
the Promised Land. In today’s passage, Joshua reminds the Israelites that it
was not by their own military might that they did this, but it was God who gave
them the land. As a result of God’s provision (defeating the armies of the other
people), Joshua reminded them to fear and serve the Lord. J.R. Hudberg
Source: Our Daily Bread 2015
