Skip to main content

All Or Nothing


            After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then old and well advanced in years, summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am old and well advanced in years. You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Great Sea in the west. The LORD your God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.
            “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now.
            "The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised. So be very careful to love the LORD your God. But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you."(Joshua 23:1-13) 

            When Joshua took over as the leader of the Israelites, he was told to "be strong and courageous."  Now as he is handing the leadership over to others, he admonishes them to "be strong and be very careful to obey." Could the command to Joshua be because of the fear that caused the Israelites to refuse to enter the promised land at Kadesh Barnea? Could Joshua's command to his leaders be because of failures and errors like Ai, the Gibeonites, and Ephraim and Manasseh's claim to need another allotment?  Did Joshua recognize a failure to carefully obey in his people, or was he just facing a fact of human nature? 
           Jesus told His disciples that those who loved Him would obey Him. Joshua is focusing here on the central command that God gives us: to love Him with all our hearts, souls, minds and strengths. That means to obey Him with all our hearts, souls, minds and strengths. Do I love God more than I love myself? Do I love Him more than I love my comfort? My peace? 
            Right now, there are lots of people praying for our nation. There are claims of vast corruption in our government, and I have no doubt that it's there. There are cries of dismay over the level of hatred in this country, and I've seen it. Those things don't really matter. Am I loving the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and am I loving my neighbor as myself? If I am not, then I have no right to complain about the corruption of the hearts of politicians. If I am not dismayed over my own hatred, I have no right to bewail the hatred expressed by those around me. If I am not obedient, I cannot call on anyone else to be. 
            People may object that "none of us is perfect." True. How careful am I being? Am I doing the best job I can do, or am I shrugging off failures? It doesn't matter who wins the election to office (whether for President of the United States or City Council.) If I am not strong and very careful to be obedient, if I am not strong and courageous, if I do not love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and love my neighbor as myself, then I am dooming my nation. If you aren't, and don't - then you are dooming our nation. Our individual behavior matters more than that of the President.

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On the Calendar:
All Saints Day

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more