Friday, August 25 – Joshua 2:17-24

And the men said to her, “We shall be exempt from this oath to you which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather into your house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. And it shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house outside will have his blood on his own head, and we will be innocent; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be exempt from the oath which you have made us swear.” She then said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

So they departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days, until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had searched for them all along the road, but had not found them. Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country, and they crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun. Then they reported to him all that had happened to them. And they said to Joshua, “The Lord has indeed handed over to us all the land; furthermore, all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of us.”

In a crowd, it’s hard to stand out or be easily identifiable. For Rahab and her family to be saved they needed to stand out in some way; they needed something distinct from everyone else. The men gave her a scarlet cord to hang from her window so that when they looked at the wall, they would know to spare her and her family. Even as the attack began, she could trust God would protect her and her family.

Because of Jesus, God’s people stand out in a different way. Even as we stand among billions of people on earth, God sees us through the lens of His Son and what He has done for us. Hebrews 10:19-20 says, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh.” When we follow Jesus, we are changed by His blood. God sees us as His children because we are found in His Son. Sometimes we may feel small in the world. We look at our lives and think they don’t amount to much. But because of Jesus, God sees us as sons and daughters. For this reason, we have the confidence to approach God in all of life’s struggles, uncertainties, waiting, and joy. The scarlet thread of the gospel hangs from our lives. When we face hardship and attack, we can be confident like Rahab that the Lord sees us in the crowd and that He will care for us and never let us go.

• When have you felt lost in the crowd? How does it encourage you to know God sees you, no matter how other people view you?
• Who in your life may feel lost in the crowd? How can you encourage them that God sees them?
• Pray and thank God for the way He sees us because of the work of Jesus.