If you are joining us in reading through Joshua, Judges, and Ruth today’s reading is Joshua 9:1-8 and the devotion is taken from verses 3-6. However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.” I am always amazed at the lengths people will go to deceive other people. There are stories of the beggars on street corners who really are making a very good living. They just look and dress that way so that they can deceive people and get money from them. I’m not suggesting that all people are like that. There are many who are struggling in life and need a helping hand. But some of those who claim to be in need really are just manipulating the system because they found it easier to do that then to find regular work. Joshua had been warned not to make a treaty with any of the people who were in the land that God had given them. Obviously those from Gibeon had heard that and decided to deceive Joshua so that they could live. Joshua did not check out their story and because of that was deceived. In 2 Thessalonians 3:10 Paul writes that people are to work not just sit around and be busybodies. They are to earn the bread that they eat. We in the United States are fast becoming a group of people who look for handouts rather than working for what we need. We “play” the system so that we can get our “entitlements” instead of working for what we have. We as Christians should not try to deceive the system but rather rely on God for our needs.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 11:00:00 +0000
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