Consecrate Yourselves

Joshua 3:1-7, 3:14-4:7, 4:10-24 “Consecrate Yourselves” This last week has literally been a pain in the butt. My back was slowly recovering and then Thursday afternoon I went to help Noelle’s basketball team with their practice. After 15 minutes of barely doing anything I could feel the tension returning to my lower back. Friday afternoon I was able to get into the chiropractor and he asked me if I had been doing the stretches he assigned me to do last November. My response, “not as much as I should.” He did what chiropractors do and then sent me out with a very stern lecture, “do the stretches, twice a day, for the rest of your life!!” Doing the stretches are the best way for me to prepare for being comfortable and active for the second half of life. Too often in our lives we respond to adversity rather than prepare for what’s ahead. As the Israelites are about to cross the Jordan, Joshua says to them, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” The call is to be prepared to see the work of God, not to just respond when He does something. As we gather for worship tomorrow, let us consecrate ourselves today that we might be prepared to see the work of God tomorrow and for generations to come!