Day 123

Joshua 23:1-24:33, John 3:22-36, Psalm 55:12-23

Not that long ago we took a look at the Covenant service and the words of promise that we make to God. In the same way that we celebrate that service once a year, so the nation of Israel renewed their covenant quite often (although not necessarily on a set basis). Here Joshua, who knows that he is on his way out, renews the promise with the people once again.

There is the usual stuff that we are getting used to, of remembering everything that God has done in the past and then remembering their own part of the bargain. Joshua actually gives them the option of going down the wrong line but then tells them what he will be doing. From the very start he was respected and so the people will listen to the path that he has chosen.

The remembering part has a very important role to platy. I received one of those emails recently that uses the metaphorical walk around heaven to talk of the importance of prayer and the different kinds of prayer. It ends with the “acknowledgments” department being out of work because no-one says thank you.  The remembering part that Joshua did here is a reminder to the people of the good things that God has done and why they need to be thankful of it.

In the Gospel we are pointed once again to the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus got into a conversation yesterday about birth in the Holy Spirit and here we see Jesus actually baptising in water and Spirit and John speaks of God giving “the Spirit without limit”. Isn’t that both a wonderful and scary prospect. That fact that we can have so much of the Spirit (just look how much Joshua and Moses got) and that we will be able to do all things in the name of the Spirit. But then imagine how scary it is that we can have so much of the spirit. This is the Spirit that was there in creation and formed stars and we can have it without limit. It would fry us. God, however, knows what he is doing and he gives us the amount we need, for what we need, when we need it.

The gift of the Holy Spirit is not just there in baptism, we need to open ourselves daily for what God wants to do through us in the Spirit.