Joshua 3:5 – Verse of the Day 8/16/14

Do you own anything that you only use on special occasions? Perhaps it’s a special outfit, or maybe your family uses special dishes at holidays, or maybe it’s just decorations you pull out at certain times of year. At any rate, we set these things apart from our everyday things, and that is what makes them special.

In the Bible, the idea of holiness means to be set apart for God, and to “consecrate” something means to set it apart or make it holy. Washing was a common symbol of consecration, both for items used in Temple worship and for the people themselves. In Joshua 3, the Lord commanded Joshua to stand in the Jordan river, and promised to part the waters so that the people could pass on dry ground. This “passing through the waters” was a symbolic “washing” and indicated the consecration of the people as they passed through the river in to God’s Holy Promised Land.

Although we were once separated from God because of our sin, through the work of Jesus we have been made holy and set apart for God’s service. As you pray, thank God for this beautiful picture of our washing from sin way back in the Old Testament. Thank God for the forgiveness that is ours in Jesus.