“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

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