WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: ‘Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling …
Foul, I to the fountain fly,
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.’
(‘Rock of Ages’, Augustus Toplady)

Thank God that he has dealt with your sins fully and finally on the cross.

Cleansing the land
It wouldn’t be surprising if we find it hard to cope with the seemingly merciless violence of the assault on the city. It seems to stand in sharp contrast, for instance, with the mercy shown to the city of Nineveh that Jonah resents so much (see Jonah chs 3,4).

We need to understand this partly in terms of God’s cleansing the land of sin. Canaanite religion, for example, relied heavily on ritual prostitution and child sacrifice.

Paying the price
We also need to remember the mercy shown not just to Rahab but to her whole family, which led to them having a secure future among God’s people (see v 25).

But in the end, as New Testament Christians we have to read this in the light of the story of Jesus, and recognise that on the cross God in Christ has paid the full price of our sin, taking all its awful consequences on himself.

Respond: ‘In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation’ (2 Corinthians 5:19, ESV). Praise God for his reconciling love in Jesus, and pray that you will be a faithful and loving agent of that reconciliation to those around you.

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-02-11