LEAD BY EXAMPLE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges, and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.

Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your forefathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods. But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.’

'Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea. But they cried to the Lord for help, and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians; He brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the desert for a long time.’

'I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. When Balak, son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam, son of Beor, to put a curse on you. But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.’

'Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.'”

“Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:1-15

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As the final chapter of Joshua opens, we see Israel’s appointed leader assemble “all the tribes of Israel at Shechem”, calling all “elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel” who “presented themselves before God”. It’s before this gathering that Joshua shares his last message from God…a message intending to remind Israel about what God had done for them and what He would expect from them in return. God’s message was as follows:

“Long ago your forefathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods. But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.”

“Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea. But they cried to the Lord for help, and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians; He brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the desert for a long time.”

“I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. When Balak, son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam, son of Beor, to put a curse on you. But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.”

“Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.” Joshua 24:2-13

Indeed, God had done much for Israel to be where there were and have what they had. It was clear that He didn’t want them to forget that their blessings had come from Him and Him only.

After sharing God’s message, Joshua underscored it with his own powerful words, particularly in regard to following God. Let’s look at five major points he makes in regard to this:

1. Fear the Lord.

The Lord deserved Israel’s full respect and honor for no other reason outside of who He was….the Lord who was always with them…the Lord who never went back on His promises. And so for God to have to demand His people’s loyalty and obedience is unbelievable but it just goes to show that the Israelites didn’t fully grasp the awesome power of the Lord they served for if they did, they wouldn’t have ever considered blatantly sinning against Him by worshipping other gods. They would have been too afraid of what He might do to them in response.

Later in the Old Testament Book of Psalms, we find this:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” Psalm 110:10

If we’re honest, we should all see a need to be wiser and respect the Lord out of honor for who He is, all the while fearing His powerful judgment that could be sent against us in a moment’s notice if He so chooses.

2. Serve Him with all faithfulness.

Note that this doesn’t say to follow the Lord with just some of our faithfulness. Rather, it’s clear that we are to follow Him in complete, unfailing, unwavering dedication and devotion.

Friends, we serve an almighty, all-powerful Lord who never fails to keep His promises…a Lord who has shown time and time again how deeply committed and faithful He to each and every one of us. Given this, the least we can do is have more faith in Him than anything or anyone else in our lives. For it’s then and only then that we will be serving Him with ALL faithfulness.

3. Worship and serve God only.

The Israelites had a history of turning from God and worshipping other gods, a clear violation of His commands.

Why would they ever worship another god?

Because worshipping them often endorsed a sinful behavior or desire that pleased the worshipper. You see, the false gods worshiped by other nations seemed less restrictive than the God of Israel, definitely inviting one to carry out their own will over God’s. This created an environment where it was very tempting for people to turn away from God so to follow the path of least resistance…a path that led them toward sin and away from righteousness.

Truly, Israel had options before them and God wanted them to know He understood that, leaving no doubt that He expected them to pick Him every single time.

4. Life’s about choices…make the right ones.

Joshua said to the Israelites:

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.”

We should note that God didn’t coerce His believers into following Him but rather commanded that they do it, leaving the choice of the matter up to each and every individual. He doesn’t want someone to follow Him simply because they have to. Rather, He wants someone to follow Him because they WANT to follow Him…because they DESIRE it more than anything else in life. For when we want to follow Him and desire to follow Him with all our heart, then our choices will be easy because they will be the choices He wants.

Indeed, life is all about choices and the only way to ensure we will ALWAYS make the right ones is if we obediently and faithfully make the first and all-important choice, the choice to follow the only One who will make sure we always choose right.

5. Lead by example.

Immediately after telling Israel that they had a choice to make as to whether they would follow the one and only God or any of the numerous false gods worshipped by other nations, Joshua shows us one of the greatest attributes of a good leader. For he proclaims his personal commitment to lead by example, saying:

“But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

In essence, Joshua is saying this:

“You can choose whatever you want to choose but I’ve already got my mind made up. My family and I are serving God and God alone.”

My brothers and sisters, imagine the impact this must have had on the Israelites. Joshua was a highly respected leader who Israel looked up to, especially given His special relationship with the Lord…a relationship that modeled the one God had with Moses.

So when Joshua spoke, Israel listened.

And so when he said He was going to follow God, I can’t help but think that a lot of Israelites decided to do likewise…following his lead. You see, the best leaders lead by setting the right example. They practice what they preach and we need to remember this as we serve the Lord and others daily.

So there they are…five important elements points from some of the final words of Joshua…points that were intended to help the Israelites succeed spiritually long after he had died….points that can continue to help us this very day as well. For like the people of Israel, we would be well-served to heed Joshua’s wisdom and guidance for it will only help us develop a deeper, stronger faith relationship with our Father above.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.