But They Did Not Consult The Lord

Scripture:

Joshua 9:14 "So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord."

Observation:

God had told Israel that when they got into the Promised Land, they were to destroy every city and people group that lived there.  The people of Gibeon came to Joshua after a couple cities had been defeated by Israel asking for a peace treaty.  They acted like they had come a long way and told Joshua they had traveled far to get there, but they were lying and were actually very close.  God wanted Israel to be a Theocracy.  He wanted to lead them, but in this case, they made decisions without consulting Him.  This decision caused them problems from that day forward.

Application:

How many times in life we do what looks right without ever consulting with the Lord?  God wants to be the center of our lives.  He wants us to ask Him about the decisions we make.  Many times we do what seems to be the right thing, only to find out that God could have saved us a world of hurt if we had only asked His opinion about the matter.  God wants us to consult Him on everything in our lives.  In this is great blessing, yet we don't do it because we think we know better than God how to handle the issues of life.

Prayer:

Father, help me be a man that seeks You for every decision in life.  Help me not to function out of the knowledge of good and evil, but out of the tree of life.  I want to "consult the Lord" on every area of my life.  Help me to implement this better and forgive me for the many times I have acted without consulting You.

Your Son,
Jeff