[A Meditation on One Verse]

(Joshua 5:15) “The commander of the LORD’s army replied, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so.”

Just before the advance into Canaan, the commander of the Lord’s army appears before Joshua. And he commands him to take off his sandals because the place where he is standing is holy. This scene is familiar. Moses, standing before the burning bush, also faced a similar situation.

Then, and in this scene as well, the Lord shows who the God of Israel is. God, who is faithful to His covenant, reveals that Israel’s wars are the Lord’s wars. That is why He tells him to take off his sandals. He has him lay down all knowledge and experience, all worries and plans.

Perhaps, standing before this time called ‘today’ is like standing before the city of Jericho. To us in that position, the Lord says:

”Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.”

Therefore, our ‘today’ is holy. For the Lord has set apart your ‘today’ and my ‘today’ as holy—by our surrendering ourselves before the Lord. And so, relying only on Him, we powerfully begin ‘today’.

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(Daily Reading)

– Joshua 5:7-6:7