Joshua 15-18: “But” and “However”, when reading the Bible the words “but” and “however” are important words. They communicate a transition that you should take note of. Today’s reading had a couple of them:
Joshua 15:63 “But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.”
Joshua 16:10 “However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.”
Joshua 17: 12 “Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.”
It was as though Joshua was saying, you were doing so well, (TRANSITION) BUT you did not finish the job. That is the biggest struggle for many of us. God gives us a job, but when challenges arise and it gets hard, it is easy to turn aside and just leave the last part undone. Maybe you even intended to go back and complete it, but once you turned your attention to something else, the drive to go back and see your project to completion was gone. Even worse, maybe you just decided you were willing to settle for what is completed instead of doing the job correctly.
Look at what that mentality cost Israel. Those same people that they left in the territory they knew had been given to them by God are the same people their ancestors are fighting today. That mountain top in Jerusalem that countless lives have been slain over is still the hottest area of contention in the world. A mosque sits there today with the Western Wall a rocks throw away.
Incomplete obedience like we said yesterday is disobedience and it comes with its own inherent challenges. They may not raise their heads at first, but over time they wage war against you. Lol even as I write that, I think about the outside of our home that we have not had the finances to complete yet. It is coming, and we haven’t given up, but in the meanwhile the weather definitely is taking its toll. It is a great example of “but” and “however.” The house is complete BUT the outside is yet to be stoned or bricked. The buts in our lives can cause much stress and pain if we do not complete the project. Praying today that you will be able to remove some buts and however from your personal life and see obedience to God complete.