The years passed,
and the Lord had given the people of Israel rest from all their
enemies. Joshua, who was now very old, called
together all the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel. He said to them, “I am now a very old man. You
have seen everything the Lord your God has done for you during my
lifetime. The Lord your God
has fought for you against your enemies.
“Soon I will die,
going the way of everything on earth. Deep
in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has
come true. Not a single one has failed! But
as surely as the Lord your God has given you the good things he
promised, he will also bring disaster on you if you disobey him. He will completely destroy you from this good
land he has given you. If you break the covenant of
the Lord your God by worshiping and serving other gods, his anger
will burn against you, and you will quickly vanish from the good land he has
given you.” Joshua 23:1-3, 14-16
When Moses was about
to die he passed the leadership of the young Israeli nation into Joshua’s hands. Joshua had faithfully followed and served
God, assisting Moses during the wilderness wanderings. But it was time to cross Jordan without Moses,
and obey God’s command to conquer and occupy the Promised Land. Now, years later, Joshua is getting ready to pass
along the leadership to another. As he
leaves the people he loved and led, he gives one last vital caution: Keep serving God, who loves you –
resist anything else.
The meaning of that
message needs little explanation…except when a nation,
obviously blessed by the hand of God, fails to remember what a blessing they’ve
received, and begins to act like they can get along without guidance from, and
obedience to, the hand from which that blessing came.
Walking with God’s
approval means obeying God’s will.
It doesn’t get simpler than that.
I mused on that late
at night on July 4th as I tried to go to sleep. The fireworks flashing and sounding off made
sleeping somewhat difficult, and the musing led to an inner sense of longing for
America to return to serving God. We
have a long way to go on that journey.
For You Today
Every journey begins with a first step, and God’s
people know the right direction to step out.
Standing still will not suffice.
There are about 2,000 devotional
posts on Rocky Road Devotions.
To
dig deeper into this topic or Scripture text:
What Kind of Nation Are We? and Why?
[1] Images: WikimediaCommons Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
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