Unless we have been unconscious or in a coma, we all know that we have started the new year of 2022.  When we woke up on January 1, 2022, we undoubtedly had a sense of “here we go again, we have entered a whole new year, and we have no idea what will unfold for us in the new year.”  We are in a very real sense in exactly the same position as the people of Israel thousands of years ago when they were preparing to enter what we now call the Promised Land.

        “Words from Above” in the Bible tell us about this situation in the Book of Joshua, Chapter 3.  In order to enter into the Promised Land, the people of Israel had to cross the Jordan River, which happened to be at flood stage at the time.  God Himself told Joshua what they needed to do to be able to cross the river on dry ground.  The idea was that if the people followed the instructions of the Lord, then He would part the waters of the river so that they could cross over on dry ground.

        God’s plan was for the priests to carry a special box called the ark of the covenant, which represented the presence of God, to the edge of the river and stand still.  At this point, God said that He would part the waters of the river so that they people could cross to the other side of the river.  This amounted to the priests taking a “step of faith”, and then doing what He had promised.  Joshua told the people, “Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you”, and that “as soon as the feet of the priests rest in the waters of Jordan, the waters shall stand up on a heap”, which meant that the waters would stop flowing so the people could cross the river.

        Joshua also had another important message for the people as they prepared to cross the Jordan River.  He told the people to keep their eyes on the ark of the covenant as they made their way to the river, and to keep a distance of about 3,000 feet between themselves and the ark.  Joshua told them that this would help them to see which way they needed to go, and he explained to them that this was important before they had ‘not bee this way before”.  This is the same reason it is inadvisable to follow too closely behind other vehicles on the highways of our nation.  It is not only dangerous, but makes it more difficult to see where we are going.

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.