Get Ready

Josh 3:5 "And Joshua said to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.'"

This was it. This is what these people had waited for. This is what they had anticipated for forty years.

As a kid I loved Christmas Eve. I still do. Christmas Eve you have all this pent up anticipation. You know that your Mom and Dad have spent the last month or more getting ready for this day. You know that the next day is going to be special because of the gifts or the meal or family. (And that is just what we have made it. The anticipation really should be because Jesus came that day and it began a new chapter in God's deliverance for all of us.) So, Christmas Eve you can barely sleep even though your parents tell you to go to bed.

Just think of the pent up emotion all of these people had. These were the children of those who originally left Egypt. They had been in the wilderness for forty years. They saw miracles. They saw war. They saw Moses meet with God. They received the word of God. And now? Now they were going to finally get to the place that God had promised them. And what were they going to do to get ready to go in? Sanctify themselves. Consecrate themselves. Dedicate themselves. Be set apart. Why? Because God was there. Because God was at work. Because God was going to do wonderful, marvelous, extraordinary things…tomorrow. Talk about Christmas Eve! How could they sleep? How could they endure the excitement? And the way that they got ready was making sure that they were holy.

What do I expect God to do tomorrow? What do I anticipate that God will do in the near future? Whatever it is, I need to get ready. And the way that I get ready is to do something now…be sanctified. Be set apart. Be holy. Be dedicated. Live my life completely and totally dedicated to God, and then watch Him work. When this happens, I will be able to walk into the promised land of His work. He will do unbelievable, extraordinary, mighty things and I will get to be a part of it. Do I believe it? Do I expect it? Do I anticipate it? It will show in how I live my life now.

Am I ready?