Have you ever stopped to think what Joshua had at his
disposal when he made this powerful statement?
Even more interesting, have you stopped to think about what he did not
have available to him?
·
He did not have YouVersion reminders to help him
go through his Bible reading plan every morning
·
He did not have James Dobson or Kevin Leman, or
any other great writers of our day to help guide him in how to raise godly
children
·
He did not have George Barna at his disposal
with tons of research to show what really
works to raise spiritual champions in difficult times
He basically only had three things available to him: The historical evidence of God’s faithfulness
to the nation of Israel from Abraham to the present; his eye witness account of
God’s work in and through his own life for the better part of a century; and
what was written in the Book of the Law of Moses.
From his 40 days on Mt. Sinai he knew the 10 Commandments
that had been given by God himself to guide both him, and all of Israel, to a
life that would be right with God and with others. Whether they were allowed to be posted in the
courtrooms of Alexandria or not, they still applied to his life and the lives
of those around him, and everyone would be would be better if they headed their
instruction. (Deuteronomy 6:1-3)
From some of Moses’ final instructions he knew that he must
pass along a life of devotion to his children.
It would not be by following a formula, per se, it would be about taking
every one of life’s daily situations and infusion them with a dose of
obedience, passion and consecration for God and the things of God that would
lead them to genuine worship of that same God (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
He had personally heard God’s words encouraging him to be
strong and courageous in every aspect of life.
Not to deviate from what he had before him in the “Book of Instruction”
that Moses had left in his care. Not to
go beyond what it said or fall short of what it said; not to go to the right OR
to the left; just obey what it said with every fiber of his being.
I ask myself, if Joshua could make such a bold statement
with such limited history and resources at his disposal (and live up to it all
the days of his life!), how much more should we be able to do having so much
more history, so much more evidence of God’s faithfulness, a complete
revelation of God’s will and ways through His written word AND a bookshelf full
of books on the key subjects at hand?
Maybe Joshua had all he really needed, and we do too!
Russell Johnson IBB Church Miami
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