Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Joshua 10:13, ” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? the sun stood still in the midst of the heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. “

Background

Recently, most of America was blessed with an extra sixty minutes as daylight savings time ended and we reverted back to standard time. The general anticipation, especially for adults who are operating on less-than-sufficient sleep, is to be able to sleep an additional hour Saturday night. But what I think invariably happens is that we allow ourselves to stay up later that night, knowing that it’s really an hour earlier, and so the sleep benefit is replaced by an extra hour out of the house or doing something constructive like watching television. But what if instead of an extra hour, we had an entire extra day? Imagine getting a three-day weekend without missing any work to get it. How then would you spend your time? Would it be like finding money somewhere, when you take the unexpected bonanza and splurge on something out of the ordinary? Would it mean more time to shop, or spend working in the yard? Would you watch an entire trilogy without interruption?

Application

When Joshua got his extra day, he spent it on the battlefield. He and his men marched all night to go save Gibeon. And just when his exhausted men might have preferred an extra twenty-four hours of night to sleep, God gave them the longest day in history. But that wasn’t all He gave them. Rather than just slowing the Earth’s rotation so they could fight longer, God sent giant hailstones down on the enemy, killing more in the storm than Joshua’s men killed in battle. As God was making provision for His people to rescue another, He didn’t take the extra time off and let the men battle as one day turned into two. Their long day, when they looked at the sun and knew something was different, drew their attention beyond the sun to the One who made the sun and moon. Their free day became a day of freedom for Gibeon. So, how would you spend your extra day? More importantly, how do you spend each day you’re given now? When we view each of them as extra, as gifts from God, then perhaps we’ll think of the Son of God more than the sun in the sky

Charge

As we seek Him today, value the hours you are given as gifts from God. And whether they feel like they are flying by or dragging on, worship Him in them and seek Him in all you do.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words