2^nd Sunday, December 9

JOSHUA

Joshua 1:1-9

Humility places within us a knowledge and understanding of God as sovereign and His ways as being above our ways. But it doesn’t stop there. God calls us to step out in faith with boldness, courage, and strength, believing and trusting in His abilities and promises. We see this in the life of Joshua.

God revealed Himself to Moses. But now Moses is dead. Yet God’s plan continues as He chooses Joshua to lead the Israelites into the promised land—a land the Israelites had previously refused to enter. Joshua and Caleb were the exception. With full confidence in God’s promises to Israel, they stood against the majority opinion of the spies sent in to search the land. Their report of fortified cities and strong giants in the land caused the people to lose faith and perish in the wilderness. (Num. 13:26 – 14:10)

The name Joshua means “the Lord is salvation,” and the Greek form for this name is “Jesus.” Joshua is a picture of our Lord Jesus, who calls us to follow Him across the Jordan river to take possession of the land that He has given to us. Within each of our hearts is that land—a land of fortified cities of unforgiveness, or bitterness, and filled with strong giants of pride, self-deception, anger, or discouragement. Will we trust the report of the unbelieving spies and fear the people of the land, or do we run to the throne of grace and to the word of God, which has the power to deliver from the bondage of sin and strong giants?

Our text also speaks of success and prosperity. Many, even in the church, are seeking these things outside the word of God. He did not send Joshua to a success seminar to get him more self-motivated. He did not tell him to take a course on setting and achieving our own goals through positive mental attitude. He did not tell him to seek the advice or council of everyone around him. There is no power in these things to deliver. But God did call Joshua to a life of humble obedience. To speak the word of God always, to meditate on his word always, and to “observe to do according to all that is written.” “Do not turn to the right or to the left.” This is God’s way to true success and prosperity. But let us not define success and prosperity for ourselves as being a life free from all our troubles and problems. We are not called to an easy-chair Christianity. Joshua had to go into battle trusting God. The giants of the land did not just run away in fear, they fought back. That’s why God calls Joshua and us to “be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

We are not called to seek success, but to seek the Lord Himself. So let God be exalted and let His will be established in our lives. 2Tim. 3:16; 1Tim. 6:3-8; Prov. 3:5-6; 1Corinth. 1:18-31; Prov. 14:12

~ Jim Krauser