Read Joshua 2
I love Rahab’s story. To sum her up, she was a prostitute that had heard what the God of Israel had been doing, so when His people came knocking, she opened the door.
You ever wonder why the Bible includes certain details? While studying Rahab, I wondered why God thought it was important to say the “spies came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab” instead of just saying “Rahab’s house.” Something that they taught me in my Religion classes at the University of North Alabama is that if it is included in the Bible, it’s important. When a detail was included, it was because that detail was supposed to do something: remind you of another story, stir something up in you, allude to something in the future, etc.
So, why include that she was a prostitute? Well, I think it was for me. I think it was for you. I think it was so that when our callings came knocking you and I couldn’t use our past or present sins or mistakes as an excuse to disqualify ourselves from being involved in what God was about to do.
She knew who her shame said she was, but she also knew something else: (Rehab speaking) “For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below” Joshua 2:11. She knew who God was, and if the supreme God of the heavens & earth decided she would be the one He would send His people to for protection then she would answer the door.
She answered it knowing it could cost her everything, knowing people would say she was unworthy, knowing what she had done yesterday, but also knowing it could save her life.
Exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think. God didn’t stop with her salvation, although that would’ve been enough. No, while the world looked on her as dirty, unworthy, shameful, God saw her as chosen. He saw through all her mess & mistakes & saw who she could be: part of His son’s lineage. She became the great great grandmother of King David.
This is what the Heavenly Father does for his daughters: He takes their rags of shame & replaces them with robes of royalty.
Your calling will not be taken away because of your mistakes.
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