Form an opinion. Make a judgment. Then get the facts. Wait a minute, that's not right. But, that is precisely what I did this week with a friend. I quickly looked at something that had happened, assigned guilt to him and only later learned that things were not quite as I had assumed. And God used an interesting story to show me what I had done.

Near the end of the book of Joshua (Joshua 22:10-34), just after all of the Promised Land had been divided among the twelve tribes of Israel, the people of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh crossed to the east side of the Jordan River to the land that had been given to them. All of the other tribes settled west of the Jordan. So these eastward tribes built a tremendous replica of the Lord's altar that was located on the west side in Shiloh. (The Bible calls it "an altar of imposing size".... think South of the Border-sized sombrero.) The people of Israel found out about it and were enraged through thinking that this huge altar had been built to serve as a replacement of the true altar and sanctuary of God at Shiloh which was on the West Side of the Jordan. So, they gathered to declare war on their brothers across the river.

Form an opinion. Make a judgment. Then get the facts.

At this point, the ten tribes sent Phineas and a few other leaders to the other side to communicate their displeasure. There, they learned that all of their worst fears were totally unfounded. Not only was the altar not built as an act of rebellion, it was actually built as a statement of belonging and respect. The eastside tribes built it so that future generations would know that even though a river divided them, the twelve tribes were all a whole with a central place of worship and a common faith in the One True God. The declaration of war was replaced with a declaration of solidarity.

As God would have it, I read this story in my quiet time in the middle of my fuming about how I thought I had been mistreated by a friend. It led me to consider if I had given my friend the full benefit of the doubt and, more importantly, if I had even let him give his account of what really happened. I realized that I, too, had totally misinterpreted something that had happened and was ready to "wage war" against a brother in Christ. The next day I sat down with him, got the facts and apologized for my assumptions and attitude.

God's Word is "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Amazing, isn't it? A passage, written generations ago, so relevant that I could see my own reflection in it! What a mighty God He is. What a treasure we have in His Word!  

See you on Sunday.

Terrell