Who We Walk With

Sermon Notes

We slowly become like whatever we gaze upon, whether that's a screen or the God who made us. In Joshua 21, a chapter that's easy to skim past, God scatters His priests and teachers across every region of Israel so no one would ever be far from care, teaching, and a reminder to look at Him. Last week's cities of refuge were for the once-in-a-lifetime crisis, but these Levite towns were for the ordinary, everyday walk. Josh Fortney unpacks how a God who rescues us also chooses to surround us, and why the people God has placed near you matter more than you might think. Come see the God who doesn't just save you once but wants to live close.

Key Takeaways

• We become like whatever we gaze upon. Josh reminded us that our inputs shape our outputs, so what we look at every day slowly forms who we become.

• Refuge is a moment, but residence is a rhythm. Last week's cities of refuge were for the crisis, and this week's Levite towns were for the ordinary, everyday walk with God.

• God provides through the generosity of His people. The Levites had no land of their own because God was their inheritance, and every tribe willingly gave cities so God's teachers could live near them.

• God made Himself hard to miss. He scattered spiritual leaders across every region so no one would ever be far from teaching, care, and a reminder to look at God.

• You are a Levite town. God's Spirit lives in you, which means you get to point the people around you back to His faithfulness right where you live.

  Discussion Questions

1. Josh said we become like whatever we gaze upon, so what have you been gazing upon most this week?

2. When life falls apart, where do you tend to run first?

3. Who has God already placed in your everyday life to help you keep walking with Him?

4. What makes it hard for you to stay close to God in the ordinary, non-crisis moments?

5. If God's Spirit really lives in you, who are the people you're positioned to point back to Him?

6. Where have you seen God keep a promise slowly, over years, in a way you almost missed?

This Week's Challenge

Reach out to one person God has placed near you for your spiritual growth and simply thank them, or grab coffee with them this week.

Transcript

We Become What We Gaze Upon

Our inputs determine our outputs. Show me your friends, and I'll show you your future. Think about it. People who spend hours reading angry news tend to become angry. People who spend their free time doom scrolling tend to become distracted, anxious, and insecure. People who hyper-fixate on the stock market live with roller coaster emotions.

And people who spend time daily looking at God, the God on top of Mount Sinai who came to us as Jesus from the village of Nazareth, tend to become compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and full of love. We become like whatever we gaze upon, whether it's a TV or the Trinity. Here's the thing though. It's hard to fixate on God when we're not near Him. It's hard to be reminded of His presence when we're not seeking it.

Once We've Run to God, Who Helps Us Keep Walking?

Last week we asked a hard question. When life falls apart, where do we run? God set up cities of refuge for people who needed rescue. But what happens after you've run to safety? Do you just stay there forever, catching your breath, grateful to be alive but never actually growing?

Today we discover that God's plan wasn't just to save you. It was to surround you. Joshua 21 shows us that embedded in every region of Israel were spiritual guides, teachers, and worship leaders. Refuge was never meant to be an isolated moment of rescue. God never intended Israel to visit Him occasionally. He intended His presence to shape everyday life. So this week Joshua asks a different question. Once we've run to God, who helps us keep walking with Him?

God Provides Through Keeping His Promise (21:1–8)

At first glance this chapter feels even less exciting than the one before it. Lists of cities, Levites, allocations. But Joshua is doing something profound. The Levites were God's priestly tribe, devoted fully to serving the Lord instead of warfare or trade. Years earlier, God had promised them something strange. They would not get land like everyone else. The Lord Himself would be their inheritance.

Can we just sit with that for a second? The Levites watched everyone else conquer and settle rich land, and they were promised none of it. But their inheritance was God. And He met their needs through the willing gifts of His people. Every tribe gave cities, not under compulsion and not reluctantly, but willingly, so God's teachers could live near them.

God Draws Near to His People (21:9–42)

As you read through these cities, watch what God is doing. He's ordering His priests to be near and available to His people. Caleb, who just fought for Hebron back in chapter 14, willingly hands part of his inheritance over so it can become a priestly city and a city of refuge. Land once feared and filled with giants becomes a place of safety and care.

Then God doubles down. Last week we saw refuge cities placed on both sides of the Jordan so no one would be far. Now He scatters forty-two more towns across every tribe. He wants to be so near His people that they can't help but be reminded to look at Him. Worship Him. Obey Him. Remember Him. He basically made Himself hard to miss.

You Are a Levite Town

We live in a place where there's a church on nearly every corner. I pass sixteen churches and a Church's Chicken on my ten minute drive to CityBridge. Imagine if each of those churches doubled down on their devotion to God. We'd probably see a different landscape in our city. This isn't about bashing anyone or tooting our own horn. It's about how vital it is to equip the church and engage the city. That's the model God set up in Joshua 21.

But here's what's wild. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit dwells in you, which makes you a Levite town. You get to point people to God, remember His faithfulness, and carry His presence right into your everyday life.

God Finishes What He Started (21:43–45)

Then we reach the hinge of the entire book. Everything before these verses leads here, and everything after flows from it. The Lord gave Israel all the land He swore to give their fathers. He gave them rest on every side. Not one word of all His good promises failed. All of it came to pass.

There are hundreds of years between the command in Numbers 35 and the fulfillment here in Joshua 21. God is not slow. He is methodical and intentional. Forty-eight cities, each with pasturelands, exactly as He said. God keeps His promises down to the last detail. And if He was that faithful to Israel, what if we actually believed He'll be that faithful to us?

Where We Live

You might be here seeking refuge. You might be here as part of your regular walk. You might not even know how you made it here. Either way, God has set up rhythms and places for His people to remember Him, gaze upon Him, and be covered in His promises. Whether you've failed or you're looking to flourish, this is a great place to start.

We have a calling to keep walking in Him. Colossians reminds us to keep living in Jesus, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith just as we were taught. Israel had every reason to celebrate God's faithfulness, and still they forgot and faded. But God made a way to draw near again through Jesus, and He chooses to live in us so we never have to walk alone.