And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
--Joshua 3:5
In December 1955, on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, a lady named Rosa Parks experienced a defining moment. I’m not sure we’ll ever know what was truly going through Rosa’s mind that day when a white passenger boarded the bus and demanded that she vacate her seat and move to the back simply because she was black. Something happened in Rosa’s heart and she said, “Today is going to be different. I’m not going to the back of the bus today. I’m not going to experience that indignity another time.” Rosa Park’s defining moment not only changed her life, but it changed the course of the civil rights movement in America and ultimately our entire culture.
Defining moments happen to all of us when we courageously and confidently choose to do what is right, and especially when there is a decision to make that will dramatically impact our lives. You’ve had moments like that, right? I know I have. As a small child, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and as a result of that newfound faith, my life has never been the same.
In much the same way, the nation of Israel was on the brink of a huge decision. For a generation since the exodus of the people of God out of Egypt, the Israelites had been wandering nomads in the desert searching for the land flowing with milk and honey that God had promised for 40 years. The officers of the Israelite camp went through instructing the people to follow after the ark of the covenant when they saw the Levitical priests carrying it to the Jordan River (Joshua 3:1-5). As a new leader in command, Joshua told the Israelites to prepare themselves for the Lord was going to do great and mighty things among them and He did.
That defining moment is like the defining moments we face in our lives today. Whether you are facing decisions concerning your career, marriage, family, or business, we all face the same choices that are thrust upon us when we don’t ask for them. Prepare yourself today for the new pathways of obedience to God. God was ready to do something wondrous among the Israelites and He wants to do something wondrous in your life as well.
