ESOCS Devotional 14 August 2024 – Be Contented
MEMORY VERSE: “ “And Joshua said “Why have you brought such trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you! All the people then stoned Achan to death; They also stoned and burned his family and possessions.” Joshua 7:25 GNV
TEXT: JOSHUA 7:19-26
Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.”
20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. 23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.
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No man on earth gets one hundred percent of all that he desires. The proper and blessed thing to do is to be satisfied with what you have. Make use of the much that God has put in your hands and give glory to the Almighty. But this was not the case with Achan. He crossed the boundary by stealing a beautiful Babylonian cloak, about five pounds of gold and silver set aside through God’s instruction. He secretly took them and hid them from human view. But the Omnipresent and Omniscient God knew of it.
We truly cannot hide anything from God. Men, even men in positions of authority, covert portions of money and materials dedicated to God’s service. Many administrators in the Church today maintain double records of finance books with the aim of hiding part of the remittance meant for the higher authority. Most of us use up all part of the 10% of our earnings. Items of thanksgiving are in some cases hidden by the Church workers for personal usage. The proper name for these acts is “fraud.”
The penalty for this nature of fraud when it is in clear disobedience to God’s command in ancient Israel was death. But before that, God reacted against the nation. In verse 25, Joshua questioned and declared to Achan: “Why have you brought such trouble upon us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you.” The huge pile of stones over Achan and his household is there till this day (Joshua 7:25-26). Many of the troubles we face in life is a result of our fraudulent life in the things of God.
The escape route is to maintain a life of contentment. In Church administration, make do with the portion of funds the policy assigns to you to manage and remit the balance to the authority over you. In your personal life, deduct the 10% and pay for the Lord’s service and make do with what is left. Avoid the temptation of longing for what is not yours.
- May the spirit of contentment fill us all.
- Father, regulate my thirst and limit it to the portion assigned to me, in Jesus name. Amen.
Further Reading: Daniel 8:15-end; Luke 6:1-11; Acts 12:22-end
ESOCS Devotional 14 August 2024
