In Joshua 5:1-12 the goodness of God in keeping his promises is not conditional on the Israelites’ obedience: he had already led them across the Jordan. But God does ask his people to consider how to set themselves apart for God. He asks them to respond in obedience by both laying something aside through circumcision, and by partaking of something through the Passover meal.

As people of the new covenant, we no longer need to be circumcised to be accepted as God’s people. But Paul does speak about circumcision in this way in Romans: “circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” The Bible asks us to go deeper than behavior modification – God invites us to look at our hearts, the seat of who we are, and asks us how we identify ourselves as belonging to God.

Just like the Israelites, we’re prompted to consider what we base our identities on, and what we may set aside or take up in obedience to that identity. And as Paul reminds us, it is the Holy Spirit who does this work in us.