God spoke these words to Joshua after Moses died and before he led God's people to the promised land.
6“Be strong and courageous, for you will lead my people to possess all the land I swore to give their ancestors. 7Be strong and very courageous. Obey all the laws Moses gave you. Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do. 8Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed. 9I command you—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
One thing that jumps out in that passage is how very seriously God took the matter of obedience. Everything hinged on the willingness of the people to walk in obedience. And it wasn't just a subjective, wouldn't it be nice if we were good, kind of obedience. It was based on the very solid commands of God contained in a very specific book. God told Joshua to take that book and study it, then to meditate on the truths he found there. Once it was internalized, he was commanded to follow the truth there. If he was willing to do that, there was the promise of success. If he chose not to obey, there was the promise of failure.
God has not changed to fit the new morality of the 21st century. We may harden our hearts to the truth of His Word. We may line up hundreds of new ethecists to tell us wrong is right and right is wrong. Ultimately, none of that matters. God's Word is unchanging, unbending in the winds of moral subjectivity. We can choose to believe and follow or disbelieve and walk in rebellion. obedience will lead us to success in life and disobedience will lead us to failure. As it has always been, the choice is ours.
The end of this book of Joshua says it well.
"...then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”
God spoke these words to Joshua after Moses died and before he led God's people to the promised land.
6“Be strong and courageous, for you will lead my people to possess all the land I swore to give their ancestors. 7Be strong and very courageous. Obey all the laws Moses gave you. Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do. 8Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed. 9I command you—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
One thing that jumps out in that passage is how very seriously God took the matter of obedience. Everything hinged on the willingness of the people to walk in obedience. And it wasn't just a subjective, wouldn't it be nice if we were good, kind of obedience. It was based on the very solid commands of God contained in a very specific book. God told Joshua to take that book and study it, then to meditate on the truths he found there. Once it was internalized, he was commanded to follow the truth there. If he was willing to do that, there was the promise of success. If he chose not to obey, there was the promise of failure.
God has not changed to fit the new morality of the 21st century. We may harden our hearts to the truth of His Word. We may line up hundreds of new ethecists to tell us wrong is right and right is wrong. Ultimately, none of that matters. God's Word is unchanging, unbending in the winds of moral subjectivity. We can choose to believe and follow or disbelieve and walk in rebellion. obedience will lead us to success in life and disobedience will lead us to failure. As it has always been, the choice is ours.
The end of this book of Joshua says it well.
"...then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”
Wesley Putnam Ministries has one goal:
to lift up Jesus Christ and to call each person to accept and follow Him as Savior and Lord in every aspect of life.