We can all be stubborn from time to time. When we become Christians we don’t lose our personality, nor do the desires of our flesh disappear. We are a rebellious people, we have always been, but this doesn’t mean we can do what we like.
 
Over the last few weeks we have been reading about when the people of Israel had to put their full trust in God, and the leader whom He anointed, to safely take them across the Jordan and into the promised land. But what then? Once the people had been led out of the wilderness and into Canaan, could they then do what they wanted?
 
Like the children of Israel we have encountered our own river Jordans. We have been brought out of our desert and into a new land of promise and now we need to heed the voice of God to take us forward . We profess to know and love our Lord, but when He says to us… ‘’If you love me you will keep my commandments’’ How do we respond?
 
There must come a dying to oneself and a yielding to God. If we want to be God’s people, we have to both hear God and be obedient to His will. His plans for us are only for good, He knows the very hairs upon our head and the aches of our heart. He alone knows what we need in order to grow and to become who He intends us to be.
 
It is not easy; our stubbornness will rise up again and again and if allowed will knock us off course. It will rob us of the good God has for us, and surely lead us away from Him and potentially back to the life of sin we once so desperately fled from.
 
When the people crossed the Jordan, they were commanded to build a memorial so that the mighty miracle they had just encountered would be remembered by their people forever. It is important for us to also remember the goodness of God in our own lives.
 
Do we remember those times in which He performed His miracles in our lives? Are we building monuments to encourage the generations yet to come?
 
When we find ourselves losing that sense of reverence and obedience to God’s will, remember all that He has done in your life and generations past. He is good and He will continue to lead us on the right path as we keep making the right choices to trust and obey.