The cost of Gilgal

Joshua 5:2-8
Gilgal is not only the place of memorial and remembrance but a place that also has a cost. When we have followed Jehovah and have been brought through Jordan and have placed down the marker so all can see we have to acknowledge that there will also be a cost to this following. Here in Joshua the cost was circumcision, this gives us an illustration of how God wants to define us as followers of Him. This is not about a physical act but all about a spiritual undertaking, something that God had instigated back in Deuteronomy 30:6 "circumcise the heart". The word circumcise literally means to cut off or cut around. What God is saying is I want to set you apart, the miracle of salvation will inevitably involve a cost and will certainly involve a process where by we are required to place ourselves in a position that God can perform the act of circumcision, a cost that some may find to great but for those who capitulate the reward is great, there is is no gain without pain. For God to be able to reign supreme and for Him to be able to work out His salvation in and through us we have to be willing to allow Him to wound us, to bring us low and then sustain us in that desperate place so that in His time He can raise us up so that we can be a witness to His salvation. The cost of Gilgal adds wait to the memorial of Gilgal.