In this passage, the people of Gibeon come to Joshua and deceive him into making a deal with them so they don't get destroyed. They were afraid because they had heard of Joshua's destruction of Jericho and Ai (even though there was a great fiasco at Ai the first try).
THINK
The people of Gibeon used flattery as one technique to get Joshua to make treaty with them. Joshua went right ahead and agreed with them without asking God first.
Are there areas in my life where I am susceptible to this type of thing?
I'm certainly open to flattery. "Flattery will get you everywhere," is my motto. Just kidding. A little. But I think I know when I'm not supposed to be making deals. I hate it when people come to my door to try to sell me something and start out acting all friendly and complementing and all that stuff. They act like I'm their best buddy. This does not win points with me, in fact, it points me in the opposite direction. You can only get away with flattery if I already know you. But that's not the real point of this passage. The true point is that Israel did not inquire of God before making this treaty. What if we took the time to do that before entering into any relationship? Wow. I believe the results would be earthshaking.
PRAY
Here are some questions that are asked. I'm instructed to ponder them as though God were sitting next to me with his arm around me.
1. What attachments, if any, have you formed because you think the people involved do something for you?
I think the only ones that apply here are business attachments. For example, I recently had an attachment to a roofing company. They did something for me. They fixed my roof. I did something for them. I gave them money (and authorized my insurance company to give them even more money). Actually, I didn't give them any...it all came from the insurance company. Anyway, it was a mutual attachment.
I don't typically enter into personal attachments because I think the person can do something for me. I'm not like that. Dear God, I hope I'm not. I have had people do that to me, however.
2. What attachments, if any, have you rushed into without investigating further, especially by asking God what you need to know about the situation?
We don't have time for this answer. Diaryland probably doesn't have enough hard drive for me to answer this. However, right this minute, I can't think of any major attachments that have been made lately in this manner. But again, I ask, what would our lives be like if we inquired of God before any kind of attachment or relationship?
I do need, though, to ask God if there are any such attachments that I need to back off from. He has the ability to reveal things that I have forgotten, whether on purpose or accidentally.
LIVE
As I wait with an open heart for God's revelations, I will ask him to work in me over the next few weeks to reveal any unsavory attachments that I might have entered into.