Main Point and Overview:
The battles had been won, yet peace was only for a season. It’s a great reminder that until we get to heaven, there will be battles to fight for the Lord. For Israel, God had immensely blessed them with a new land after they had overcome their enemies. Now, there was a new enemy to consider…complacency. They had to guard against “forgetting God,” and falling for the cultural temptations of the day. Not much has changed in our day. When we experience some form of success, it is easy to “forget” God. We start reading our own “press clippings,” and we think that we’ve done something special, when in fact, it was God who did it through us! One of the most important principles to live by is dependence on God. We are incapable of spiritual success without him. It is also true that God’s blessings come with conditions. While there is nothing that we can do to earn eternal life in salvation, there are plenty of things that we can “mess up” when we take matters into our own hands. Israel was never going to cease from being God’s chosen people, yet how they lived their lives moving forward was going to determine if they would be the recipient of his blessing or cursing. Joshua understood what was at stake, and that is why he offered one of the most stirring farewell speeches ever recorded in God’s Word. He was now older in age, and he knew that his days were numbered. He demanded that the Israelites “count the cost” of their future decisions. In a beautiful summary of all that God had done for them, he attempted to motivate them to faithfully serve the Lord in their future out of hearts filled with gratitude. It’s true that gratitude because of grace produces good. How grateful are you for God’s grace in your life? Time always has a way of revealing the truth.
The battles had been won, yet peace was only for a season. It’s a great reminder that until we get to heaven, there will be battles to fight for the Lord. For Israel, God had immensely blessed them with a new land after they had overcome their enemies. Now, there was a new enemy to consider…complacency. They had to guard against “forgetting God,” and falling for the cultural temptations of the day. Not much has changed in our day. When we experience some form of success, it is easy to “forget” God. We start reading our own “press clippings,” and we think that we’ve done something special, when in fact, it was God who did it through us! One of the most important principles to live by is dependence on God. We are incapable of spiritual success without him. It is also true that God’s blessings come with conditions. While there is nothing that we can do to earn eternal life in salvation, there are plenty of things that we can “mess up” when we take matters into our own hands. Israel was never going to cease from being God’s chosen people, yet how they lived their lives moving forward was going to determine if they would be the recipient of his blessing or cursing. Joshua understood what was at stake, and that is why he offered one of the most stirring farewell speeches ever recorded in God’s Word. He was now older in age, and he knew that his days were numbered. He demanded that the Israelites “count the cost” of their future decisions. In a beautiful summary of all that God had done for them, he attempted to motivate them to faithfully serve the Lord in their future out of hearts filled with gratitude. It’s true that gratitude because of grace produces good. How grateful are you for God’s grace in your life? Time always has a way of revealing the truth.
Posted in Devotional