And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor…So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. – Joshua 6:2 & 20
The story of the fall of Jericho is without a doubt one of the most faith inspiring stories of the Old Testament. For Joshua to lead the Israelites in conquest over Jericho involved having eyes of faith. God told Joshua to see that the kings and mighty men of valor of Jericho had been given into Joshua’s hands. With his physical eyes, Joshua saw a city with large walls that had its inhabitants walled up and safe from attack. For Joshua to see what God was referring, he needed to walk by faith and not by sight aware that those that were on the Israelites side is greater and more powerful than any earthly army.
It is not enough just to have eyes of faith, if Joshua saw what God was doing, but did not have an obedient heart then the Israelites would have never conquered Jericho. Eyes of faith must be accompanied by actions that are informed and motivated by faith in the unseen. Imagine the Israelites and the faith it took to march around the walls for not one, but six days without seeing any results. Faith did not involve doing anything practical that would appear to give them a chance for victory. Faith for them probably involved being mocked by the soldiers who stood on the wall and saw them do nothing but fruitless marching. What reason or hope did they have for shouting, none that they could see, only that God had told them to. By faithfully obeying they reaped a harvest and had the conquest.
For all of those who have placed their faith in Jesus, God wants to give them hearts that are characterized by faith. A heart that is characterized by faith is bold in sharing in the Gospel knowing that it isn’t based on outward appearance or eloquence of speech, but it is because of the fact that God is faithful that others will respond to the good news. When our lives are led by faith then our lives are no longer our own, but we are eager to give away our money and time for the purpose of the kingdom. A life of faith prioritizes the exaltation of God over self and makes its rallying cry, “He must increase and I must decrease.” When we have eyes of faith we are blinded to the things of this world because our gaze is set on the world to come. When we have faith in God as our compass then the fleeting pleasures of sin are nothing compared to the reward of the great wealth of Christ that has been freely offered to us on the cross by His sacrifice that reconciles us to God.
Bought by the Blood 