Get Up!

"Why have you fallen on your face? Get up!"

Those words stood out at me in blaring deafness, not any louder than if they had been audibly shouted at me. I was reading out of the Old Testament book of Joshua, chapter 7. And verse 10 sucked the air out of my lungs. Just a few days after I had written to you that "I had fallen flat on my face." in regards to my 100 DAY Challenge. Here in the pages of Scripture, a way-too-close-for-comfort phrasing of my own words, jumped off the page at me. But let me give you the back story:

They had been called to defeat those who were living in the place God was giving to them. They had one success in removing the opposition. And before the next battle began, they fall. They sin. They disobey. Unaware God has removed His blessing, they enter the next fight and get beaten. Badly. And their leader falls on his face before God, pleading an understanding of what happened, what went wrong.

And God says, "Why have you fallen on your face? {you} cannot stand before your enemies; you will turn your back before them, for you have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things in your midst that are under the ban. GET UP. Consecrate the people and say, "consecrate yourselves for tomorrow. For the LORD, the God of Israel has said, "There are things in your midst that are under the ban."'" (this is my own paraphrase, not any particular translation.)

Someone had stolen something. Specifically, whenever the Israelites defeated a nation they were to take nothing for themselves except what the Lord allowed. Most nations were utterly destroyed. But one man kept for his own possession things which God had said were off limits to take. So the entire nation of Israel stands before the LORD, and He identifies the one man who sinned and that one person, his entire family, all his things, and what was stolen - everyone and everything related to this one person - are stoned to death, burned and buried.

Extreme. Violent. Horrific.

God had the Israelites stone, burn and bury their own. Not just the one who sinned, but everyone connected to him. Why? Perhaps because one sweet taste of victory was enough for them to forget what was at stake. They - all 2 million or so of them - were about to enter their Promised Land. After 400 years in captivity, 40 years of wandering, they FINALLY were to enter what was promised.

But they had to clear out the land before they could possess it.

Victory was guaranteed. On one condition. They only had to remain obedient. Not turn back. Not retain old habits, familiar ways. They were to be a chosen people, a holy nation, consecrated- set apart solely for the Lord - and therefore, completely holy. No sin tolerated. No sin. Not once. The extreme consequence - an experience none would soon forget. Nor the promise. Victory is secure IF you remain steadfast on the LORD. His way, always.

Are you seeing some connections to our own situations? We began the 100 DAY Challenge to rid ourselves of some habit, or to retain some desired behavior, that would bless and not curse (us or others). God has promised us freedom and abundant living; our resolutions (I'm assuming) are part of the process in claiming that freedom and that abundant life. But in order to do so, we must rid ourselves of what is not of God. And the stakes are higher than we might imagine.

While God does not command US to stoning, burning and burying entire families for one person's sin - He did allow the preciousness of His very essence - His Son - to be tortured, whipped, stripped, nailed, to die, be buried....for the entire family of Adam who sinned. By our agreement to receive that Sacrifice on behalf of our own required punishment, God demands one thing: all of us. Every part. Laying down the old. Pressing on to the new, to claim in reality the Promised Land already ours spiritually. It is Extreme. It is severe. It is required.

Last week I mentioned that it was okay if you had already messed up your resolutions, if you - like me - had fallen flat on your face. And it is. In Christ, we have complete assurance that all will be well. In our journey on this earth, only what is of Christ will last for eternity. And only He can accomplish that in us. Guaranteed. But what He requires, is an open-handed obedience to Him. An utter dependence on His ability. A resting in His finished work.

And that obedience, dependence and rest cannot happen if you are hiding contraband. It could be chocolate, it could be pornography, it could be someone else's somethings...or it could be what cannot even be seen with the eye: jealousy, hatred, gossip, bitterness, a pain you are refusing to be healed from, a relationship you will not release....whatever that THING is that you decided to work on these 100 days....if you find in this journey you have fallen - on purpose or not - we must do what God asks of us - GET UP. And consecrate ourselves for tomorrow.

"Why have you fallen on your face? Get up! And consecrate yourselves before the LORD. You cannot stand before your enemies until you utterly destroy the things God banned you to have - that you have hidden. Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow."

We must get up. We cannot stop just because we fell. Growth requires progression in a forward manner. Not always movement (because sometimes our greatest spiritual growth is when we rest - just as nature proves with each quiet winter, that rest enables spring to flourish in all it's beauty) but progression.

We must consecrate ourselves. Set ourselves apart. Again. No matter what lies you are hearing in your head, let me just tell you something: You ARE NOT the person you were. You ARE a new creation in Christ. All things ARE new. And what He has already accomplished on your behalf, He will work out in you this present moment. Your actions may not always line up with this truth, but that doesn't mean it still isn't true. Line yourself up with the truth, sweet friend. And do it today.

Do it today....for tomorrow....one of these tomorrow's will be a day of reckoning....and don't you know you want to be already set apart and ready for that judgment. Until that reckoning comes though we must remember, that tomorrow His mercies are new again and ready to completely save you, even from yourself. If you have fallen, get up. Remember why you began in the first place. You are WORTH IT to continue this challenge.

'This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.

The LORD’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

for His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I have hope in Him.’

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,

to the person who seeks Him.

It is good that he (or she!) waits silently for the salvation of the LORD.'

Lamentations 3:21-23