The Center

“Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him asked, 'Are you for us or for our enemies?' 'Neither,' he replied. 'but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.' Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, 'What message does my Lord have for his servant?'" Joshua 5:13-14

 

Kids are great. The textures of life expand exponentially once they make their grand entrance into our lives. However, we notice very quickly, from moment one, they view life from the "the world revolves around me" perspective. Feed me. Change me. Hold me. Bounce me. You know the drill. As we get a little older, we're a touch more subtle but the underlying current of me, myself and I still flows freely.


In this odd encounter with God's army commander, Joshua was reminded of the need to adjust his perspective. On the threshold of his divinely directed invasion of the Promised Land, God's commander reminded Joshua that he was not the center of it all. "Neither" was his reply. He told Joshua he came to represent the One who is THE Center - God himself. Appropriately, Joshua fell to his face. 


We can embrace our culture's abhorrence of someone else other than self being god or we can direct our attention to the one true and living God. All we have to do is click on the headlines or watch the news to see the unfortunate outcomes of self-worship. We were made to worship to be sure. Let's just be sure along with Joshua that our worship is appropriately directed.


Grace and Peace,

 

Tom


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