Now the five men who went to spy out the land went up and entered there, and took the graven image and the ephod and household idols and the molten image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. They turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish said to their kinsmen, ``Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod and household idols and a graven image and a molten image? Now therefore, consider what you should do." They passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim.
They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war set out. ``When you enter, you will come to a secure people with a spacious land for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth." And will you sit still? Do not delay to go, to enter, to possess the land. They said, ``Arise, and let us go up against them for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. When they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, ``What do you report? " Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure for there was no ruler humiliating them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. The priest said to them, ``Go in peace your way in which you are going has the LORD'S approval." They said to him, ``Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be prosperous." He said to them, ``Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me and I have become his priest." When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite and they turned aside there and said to him, ``Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?" So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, valiant men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it and they said to them, ``Go, search the land." And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. In those days there was no king of Israel and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.
Integrating each of these things, even if practiced in only brief or small ways, makes space for the Holy Spirit to work in us. Simple spiritual practices-embraced by centuries of believers-are enough to help us experience a richer life in Christ: worship, prayer, meditating on Scripture, and fasting from certain foods or beverages. The good news is that acting on our intentions doesn’t require us to dive into theological study or travel the world in God’s service.
In a way, that’s what it’s like when we say we want to be closer to God but don’t take any steps toward welcoming Him into our daily life. It can make for an awkward, disorienting situation. But when you arrive, you find they haven’t set a place for you at the table. Imagine that your friends invite you over for dinner one evening. To get the most out of this devotion, set aside time to read the scriptures referenced throughout.
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