Joshua 5:9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
Daily Renewal
What would happen to your relationship with your friend or spouse if they never aged? Every day you are changing by degrees. Suppose that after a year’s time, you have changed a little bit, but your spouse or best friend has not. At first it is not noticeable, but a year later it becomes a little noticeable, maybe subconsciously. Suppose that after 30 or 40 years you are really gray and wrinkled and the other person is still young! How do you maintain such a relationship?
Joshua 5 is the story of new. There was a new land, Canaan, as opposed to the old land of Egypt. There was a new generation as opposed to the old generation. There was also new provision. Verses 11-12 tell us that the manna was going to cease and they were going to begin eating the fruit of the land.
When you think about it, old is relative to new. Something can only be old as compared to something new. Every day you are changing. You are different now in many small ways from what you were this time yesterday. You have talked to people, read things, listened to things, thought thoughts since yesterday, and you have aged.
With this new land, new generation, and new provision there was a need for Israel to renew their relationship to God. Verse 9 says, “And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.” Gilgal means “rolling.” Israel renewed their covenant with a timeless God and it replaced the old stigma of slavery in Egypt. A relationship with a timeless God requires daily renewal. It’s amazing how we talk about God, the Bible, and God’s truth as being old when God is the only One Who has not aged or changed a bit.
If you were to take a photograph of God on the day of creation, and again on the day of the Exodus, once again in Paul’s day, and finally on this very morning, there would not be a wrinkle of difference between God on the day of creation and God today. God doesn’t age. If we are going to keep close fellowship with a God who never gets old, it requires daily renewal on our part. Israel needed to renew her relationship with God in this new land and as a new generation. But what was true of Israel is true of us as well.
When I was 17, I surrendered my life to do whatever God wanted me to do. But that is a decision that I need to renew this morning. Every day, I need to renew my dedication to God and remember my dependence upon Him. God never ages, and neither should my relationship with Him. It should mature, but always be fresh.