Cycling

I think my dad might be a genius. He taught me how ride a bike when I was six years old. He simply put me on a bike with a helmet on my head and tied a rope around my waist. I learned to ride my bike while he just stood still. He stood in the middle of our driveway and I rode in circles around him. If I started to fall over he would just pull me back up. If I started to lean towards him he would give some slack, and he kept me from falling over in this way without ever having to move his feet. I learned how to ride a bike by riding in circles. As I did the same thing over and over again, I eventually learned the lesson. I was able to take off the rope and ride my bike wherever I wanted to!

We often do the same thing – we do the same things over and over again until something breaks us free, until something breaks us out of that cycle and we are able to live our lives in freedom.  But we struggle so much.  We may find ourselves stuck in cycles of sin, struggle, and addiction. We don’t know how to get out, and we’re stuck in our own struggle and selfishness. Every time it happens we feel powerless. We cycle on and on and it distracts us, moves us away from God, destroys our relationships and our attitude. Have you ever felt like you're stuck in the same cycle over and over again?

If there is one thing remembered about the Children of Israel in the Bible, it is be this: they were a cyclical people who couldn’t break their cycle of sinfulness. They were stuck in a cycle of trusting God, seeing Him do incredible things, and then forgetting Him. This cycle continued on and on.  They would serve God for a little while, and then they would forget Him. This is often used a summary for the Old Testament and, for the most part, this is how Israel is remembered.

But there is an interesting verse buried the death pronouncemnet of one of their leaders. When Joshua, the leader who took over for Moses, died, this is what is recorded about his time in charge in Joshua 24:29-31:

"Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. And they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua."

Did you read that last sentence? "Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua." That doesn't sound like the Israel you always hear about! How did Joshua lead them in this way?

There’s a really interesting passage that is written before Joshua dies. Before his death, Scripture records his purposeful last words. His farewell address is in Joshua 23:1-3:

”A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you."

It is easy to see what Joshua puts the emphasis on here. Everything that happened while Joshua was in charge– God did it all. God fought for them, God pushed the nations out of their land. Joshua’s last words were not as much advice as they were a reminder and a plea for the Israelites to remember what God had done. Look at what Joshua has to say about these nations that are being driven out before them in Joshua 23:12-13:

“For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.”

This is the question for us: will we return to the sins that Christ has already defeated, or will we take hold of the 'good ground' that God has given us? Through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, God has given us the 'good ground' of relationship with Him!

This is not about you improving your life or just making yourself better. This is about you really believing that God is worth more than anything else.

The way we break our cycles is by giving our hearts completely to God. Valuing Him above anything else helps us to take hold of the victory over sin that Jesus has brought through His cross. Just as Joshua pointed His people to keep their eyes on the God who fought their battles, we should too. We must admit our own humanity and powerlessness. In our weakness, we look to the ultimate power of Jesus.