Spot The Difference

Luke 19:1 (NIV)—

‘Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.’

 Have you ever seen pictures of the same place years apart? It becomes a game of ‘spot-the-difference’. Sometimes it is entirely unrecognisable, and other times unmistakably the same.

 As I read the stories in the Bible, I imagine the scenes in which they are set, their architecture and the terrain – it helps me stay engaged and brings them to life.

 When I read the above verse, the fact Jesus ‘entered’ and was ‘passing through’ Jericho immediately shaped the picture in my mind. I saw an open and accessible place with people coming and going as they pleased. What’s intriguing about this image of Jericho is that it Is very different to the one we are given the first time it appears in the Bible. The Book of Joshua chapter 6 tells us that Jericho was a military stronghold and was fortified with high walls. No one 'entered' or 'passed' except those with express permission.

 Between the two scenes, God gave Israel's leader, Joshua, a very particular set of instructions: march around the wall every day for six days; on the seventh-day march seven times, then blow a horn and shout. Joshua obeyed the unusual commands of God and miraculously the walls came down.

 The point? Faithfulness in one generation leads to freedom for another. Because Joshua obeyed God and walked around Jericho, Jesus could walk through it thousands of years later.

 God's plan didn’t start with us and doesn’t end with us. I'm convinced I 'stand in rooms' because saints of yesteryears knelt in theirs. And now it's our turn.

 Faithfulness is the key if we want God to use our lives to leave a legacy. What God asks may seem unusual or insignificant, but as we faithfully follow, we can trust him to work through us for the future in ways we could never imagine.

 Prayer - God thank you for your faithful servants who have preceded us. What are you asking of me today? Give me the strength to obey faithfully.