It seems odd that Joshua, of all people, would need to be
told again and again to have faith and strength. He and Caleb were the only two spies who
counseled the people to enter the land and ignore the fears of the people
there. Prior to this time, however,
Joshua had Moses to rely upon and now he was stepping into the shoes of Moses
and the tendency there is sometimes to become cautious, to take counsel and
listen to the voices of others as Moses had done, to make sure the people were
behind him as leader. The truly
important thing, however, is to make sure the Lord is in front of you. It matters not a whit who is behind if He is
not in front. Moses went to the tent of
meeting to speak with the Lord and Joshua stood outside. Now, he would be the one listening to the
Lord, boldness and courage were needed more now than when he had Moses in
front. The most important promise in the
passage is, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave
you or forsake you.” Sounds like the
promise Jesus made the disciples in the Great Commission doesn’t it?
Joshua was told, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from
your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be
careful to do according to all that is written in it.” Jesus says we are to abide in Him and in His
words abide in us and if we do then we can ask whatever we wish in His Name and
it will be given us. As with Joshua,
there is a purpose to keep in mind.
Joshua’s purpose was to enter and conquer the Land and so he needed the
truth to guide him in that work. Our
purpose is to bear much fruit and in that the Lord says we can ask whatever we
wish and receive. The way to receive the
blessings of abiding, love and fruitfulness is to keep the commandments Jesus
has given and those commandments are to love.
Out of love flows all the duties and obligations of the Law.
Everything turns out all right in the end for those who walk
by faith. That is the promise for those
who follow the Lord. The promise isn’t
that this life will be blessed or that they will see things turn out well in
this life. How have we come to a place
in western Christianity where we could preach such a message as
prosperity? The promise is that we will
have the presence of God now and that we will have eternal life in Jesus,
period, end of sentence. Resurrection is
the ultimate vindication and we either believe in it and live as He commands us
simply for the reward we have already received or we fail. Where do we pour out our lives, our energy,
our gifts and talents? Is the kingdom
secondary or primary?
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