Thankfulness
“So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the LORD at the place the LORD would choose. And that is what they are to this day.”
Today’s Text: Joshua 9:16-27 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
The Gibeonites were clearly told and had clearly heard how God had promised to give the Israelites the land of Canaan, and they also clearly believed the testimony (verse 24). Their belief in the testimony led to their ruse to make a treaty with Israel. However, for their deception, they were bound as servants to Israel and to the altar of God.
Again, we don’t find Israel or Joshua consulting God on those matters. The Israelites were angry for being deceived, as people usually are, and they were ready to destroy the Gibeonites. In their minds, the treaty was invalid, because it was made under false pretenses.
However, Joshua understood that, even though the treaty was made under false pretenses, the treaty was made before the LORD, and so it was binding. And yet, some accommodation had to be made to appease the anger of the Israelites.
For the Gibeonites, they could either agree to the terms or face war, which is what they were trying to avoid at all costs. But for the entire population of the Gibeonites, from the greatest to the least of them, they would be bound as woodcutters and water carries in service to Israel and the altar of God for all future generations. That is no small thing.
In a way, though, we are all like the Gibeonites—and not just like the Gibeonites, like the Israelites, as well.
The LORD has given all of us terms for abundant life and eternal life. The alternative is death, both literally and spiritually speaking. Am I willing to agree to the terms that God has set before me, even if it means to be a “woodcutter” and “water carrier” in service to the LORD?
Would I be willing to be a “used materials processing specialist” in service to the LORD for all eternity? How about a “dinnerware reclamation and ablution specialist?”
As I am reminded on this Thanksgiving Day, would I be thankful to pick up trash or to wash dishes or to clean toilets as my job in heaven? I’m not sure why we assume that such jobs won’t be necessary in heaven. Maybe it is because we find such jobs so demeaning and beneath us that we loathe them. We cannot fathom that such loathsome jobs could be in paradise. And if they were, they would be relegated to people who are in hell.
If we could think differently about such things, we might think differently about what it means to serve in this lifetime. Is it beneath me to serve the Lord and His people in any capacity? Just thinking about it causes some internal shame, which means that I must repent.
The Gibeonites were more righteous than the Israelites. The Israelites were like those who find some jobs loathsome, even in service to the LORD. I need to be more like the Gibeonites.
Father, You are God of all salvation. You offer life, and with it joy! Help me to know the joy of living in Your kingdom, because my joy is You. And because Your joy is me. Forgive me for any sense of entitlement. Forgive me because that sin is always before me. Thank You for Your mercy and Your salvation and Your life in me. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
