Tuesday, September 5 – Joshua 4:8-9

So the sons of Israel did exactly as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the Lord spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the encampment and put them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.

Have you ever had ideas for how you might grow in your faith that you didn’t follow through on? Often in a moment of inspiration, we get grand ideas of how we can grow but it is more difficult to follow through. To begin the book of Joshua, the people followed through with the instructions God gave them. These events stand in contrast to many biblical accounts where God’s people failed to obey Him as they should.

In the Christian life, our follow-through does not come from a place of obligation or guilt but out of a motivation to walk with God in the future. The people obeyed God’s instruction because they wanted to follow His ways. They were focused on the present and the future instead of the past. May we also be motivated to follow through when we feel those moments of conviction as we listen to a sermon or spend time in the Word. Let’s follow through even when it would be easier to stay stagnant. When we do, we can be sure God will make a lasting impact.

• When have you felt prompted by God toward obedience but did not follow through?
• What keeps you from following through when God puts something on your heart?
• Pray and ask God to take away the roadblocks that keep you from following through as He calls you.