WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22
Scripture: Joshua 23:11-13 (New Century version)

The New Century version of Joshua 23:11-13 says, “Or else if you turn away from the way of the Lord and be friends with these nations, these that remain among you and make marriages with them and go into them and they with you, know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this land which the Lord your God has given you.” God warned the nation, through Joshua, to not turn away from the way of the Lord. If they turned away from the way of the Lord, God would become an adversary to them and they would not survive. And the warning is exactly what happened to Israel. It took a while, but it developed. That tells us that the way of the Lord is very important; it is in fact critical. God deals with people according to what they do with the way of the Lord. If you and I accept the way of the Lord and walk in it, God deals with us accordingly. If we refuse to walk in the way of the Lord, we may be looking at national destruction. Surely we are smart enough to say yes and amen to the way of the Lord.