Good morning! Looking back at this past weekend, it was full and it was fun watching Josh play his saxophone. He was nominated for a county-wide music festival which included ten hours of practice in the last two weekends and one incredible performance! But there is one moment that sticks out in my mind from this weekend in all the driving him around.
As we were leaving his last practice, we were in the left hand turn lane and the oncoming traffic was backing up. Instead of leaving room for our lane to turn left, one car stayed in the middle of the intersection not wanting to wait another cycle for their light to turn green. Not only were they stuck with nowhere to go, but now our lane was not able to move during our green light.
The man’s window was slightly down and so as I got closer I rolled mine down to “teach him how to drive” correctly. LOL! I simply said this…
” C’mon man! You can’t just think about yourself, you have to think about others too!”
I did not intend to be nasty or mean, I wanted to make the person think. So many times we get wrapped up in what we’re doing, but we don’t realize (nor do we care about) the impact we have on others.
As the Israelites were capturing the city of Jericho, Joshua commanded them to destroy the city and everything in it except for the gold, silver, bronze, and iron. These pieces would be sacred to the Lord and go into His treasury.
“But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi…took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.”
Joshua 7:1
Unbeknownst to Joshua, he sent men to spy out another region. The men came back with a report saying they would only need a few thousand men to capture the region because only a few people lived there.
Basically, they were saying – we got this, it’s gonna be a walk in the park. But when they sent men to destroy the people, the Israelites were defeated and made to turn and retreat but not before losing thirty-six men in the fight.
Joshua could not understand what had just happened! He went to the Lord in his frustration and the Lord told him that Israel had sinned by taking some of the devoted things for their own possessions.
Do we all see what is happening here? The NATION of Israel is being punished because of ONE person’s selfishness and sin.
The story goes on to tell how Achan was singled out by God as the one who had sinned. It ended up costing Achan his life. After Achan’s sin had been brought to light and dealt with by God, the Israelites, with God on their side, were now able to go and capture the region that had unexpectedly beaten them before.
Just like Achan did not realize how his act of sin would affect the whole nation of Israel, the impatient man with his car in the middle of the intersection did not realize how he would stop the flow of traffic around him.
I encourage you to be cognisant of how the decisions you make today will affect the people around you. Before you choose to do anything, think about how it will affect your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and even the strangers around you. Remember, the people around us will recognize we belong to Jesus by the way we love.
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 7:12
This is the “golden rule.” Treat others the way you want to be treated. If we can get better at doing this, more people will be drawn to Jesus!
Heavenly Father, thank You for the way You have always thought about us. We have always been on Your mind in EVERYTHING You have ever done! As we walk through this day, help us to honor You in the way that we think about others. Open our eyes to see how the decisions we make will affect the people around us and help us follow Your example to think of others before ourselves.
Be Transformed 