Change

Change is certainly all around us. In the early hours of this morning, senator Obama became the 44th president of the United States of America. His emphasis throughout his campaign for the White House was the need for change. The need for a different outlook. A need for fresh hope. Many people feel he is the man to bring it.

The world watches on in anticipation.

My bible reading at this time has brought me to the edge of the Jordan at the start of Joshua. The Israelites have been wandering around the desert for 40 years after their disobedience to God (and lack of faith) in the book of Numbers, and a new generation has emerged, charged by Moses in the book of Deuteronomy and with a new leader, Joshua. Change is all around them. They stand on the edge of their own miraculous water based crossing (Red Sea for earlier generation), not sure what is ahead (although they know it will involve lot's of battles).

The important thing for the people was to acknowledge God in the midst of their change and to keep His commands as He had asked them to do.

So what was the first thing that the people did when they crossed the Jordan into the promised Land?

We are told in Joshua ch5 that the first thing they did as a people, was reestablish their covenant with God. This was the covenant made with Abraham in Genesis 15 that God would make a great nation from him that would be a blessing to the other nations of the world. Their identity would be in God, for they were chosen and set apart, not because they were special, but because they were nothing and God wanted to show His glory through them.

The sign of this covenant was circumcision (Genesis 17), so that is what Joshua and the rest of the men did to each other to reestablish the promise God had given to them (with pieces of flint!). This would have left them vulnerable to attack (we saw Joseph's brother's use this tactic in Genesis 34) as they recovered from the operation, but this was their commitment to God and a sign of their trust in Him. They then celebrated Passover together, to remind themselves of what God had done for them in taking them from a place of hopelessness in Egypt, to a place of hope in a land of promise.

Their first act of change, was to remember and celebrate. A time of reverance and joy.

My prayer for the USA, is that as they face this new dawn, that they would first remember their covenant with God and not forget what He has done for them. Before they face the many battles that lie ahead, my hope is that they will reestablish their covenant with God, which has been made possible because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and that they remember their story as a Nation and where they have come from. I pray that they would be the blessing to other Nations that they have been called to be and not abuse the favour that has been given to them or take it for granted.

I pray that the whole nation would unite together, not in a flag, or a person, or a foreign policy, but in Jesus who is the hope that we all need to cling onto in this time.

I pray that the greatest change would be in the hearts and minds of the people, and not just the outward action of a government.

Lord, let your Kingdom come, let your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.