You need to think carefully
We read in the book of Joshua how Israel entered the promised land and conquered the different parts. Joshua led them, and he was an excellent leader. However, he knew that his end was near and he gave final instructions to the people. Study Joshua 24. The summary is as follows:
- Joshua 24:1-12 – God led the Israelites, from Abraham to the exodus from Egypt to Canaan. Here God defeated their enemies and gave the land into their hands.
- Joshua 24:13 – Israel did not work for this. They inherited a land that others had built on and they were reaping the fruits of it.
- Joshua 24:14-15 – Joshua gave them the command to fear the Lord and remove the idols from their midst. However, they had a choice, and they had to exercise it.
- Joshua 24:15 – Joshua made it clear where his focus was: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
- Joshua 24:16-33 – We read that the nation served the Lord after the death of Joshua. All seemed well.
However, it is not long before the cracks begin to show. Study Judges 1. Just read the entire book, and you will get a good idea of the consequences of sin and disobedience. To take possession of the land, each tribe is given a portion where they will live. However, they must first eradicate and cleanse everything. Nothing of the culture of the current inhabitants must remain. Alas, Israel thinks they know better. Rather than being the chosen people, separated to God, they mix and fornicate with the local population. As time goes by, more and more people are born who did not experience the exodus from Egypt. They do not know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and are wicked like the pagans around them.
They are given judges to rule over them. None of the judges we read about are actually leaders. Each subsequent judge is worse than the last, all the way to Samson. Here was someone who did not care at all about God and his commandments. He had to pay the price for it and is a perfect example of someone who had so much potential, but pride and a will of his own never realised it. Meanwhile, Israel sees that the nations they were supposed to wipe out have kings. Israel is now seeking the same. Let us look at what happens in 1 Samuel 8. The elders are seeking a king. Samuel prays to the Lord and He allows the people to have a king, even though it was not His perfect will. On the contrary, He knows that the people have rejected Him (1 Samuel 8:7). No matter how much Samuel argues, the people will not listen (1 Samuel 8:19). The Lord allows them to have a king (1 Samuel 8:22).
What does this story have to do with you and me?
The long introduction above outlines the background. We have not progressed any further today than Israel of old. I am challenged daily to tell people the truth. I hear from people who cry long tears about the crises that come upon them. Don’t get me wrong: just because we serve the Lord does not mean that we will not experience crises. Those who simply do not want to follow Joshua 24:15 will pay a greater price. Serving the Lord is not always easy. It requires that we first let go of our own self. John the Baptist put it this way:
30He must increase, but I must decrease. – John 3:30
John knows that he must decrease in himself, so that Jesus can become more in him. As I deal with people, I often hear the same refrain from their mouths: “When I was still...”; “I do not want...”; and many other examples. I call them “when eyes”. They live their past in the present. Then I wonder where this person went off the path that John 3:30 means nothing to them.
I often experience how believers one moment still confess their sin with tears, and the next moment they reach for worldly desires. One moment they are fulfilling Joshua 24:15, and the next they are back in the world (Judges 6:1; 8:33-34; and 9:6).
Perhaps your crises today are the result of your own sin and disobedience. God has already given you eternal life through your relationship with Jesus Christ. You are in the promised land, but God expects you to clean up. You cannot serve two systems. The apostle John describes it this way:
15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life — is not of the Father, but is of the world. – 1 John 2:15-16
The world is in free fall. The church, which should be the example, does not do much about it but rather eagerly participates in it and embraces a worldly attitude. What John is talking about here is not the world as creation, but a worldly action and a choice of compromise. What I experience in the church today are mostly people who do not move against the current of secularisation and self-interest but comfortably float downstream and focus only on themselves (the self). Paul addresses this in Romans 12:2 and 2 Timothy 4:3-4. Please read it.
The true believers who are still left have the task of moving against the current of a worldly attitude. Are you one of them? It is time for believers to make important decisions. One of these is the issue of Bible study. I notice how Sunday after Sunday there is no longer reading “from the Word of the Lord,” but mere stories are told and motivational speeches held. Are you going to allow your own spiritual life, one that should be life and abundance (John 10:10), to grow, or is it better to wander in a spiritual wilderness, as Israel wandered for 40 years, only a few miles from their destination? If your pastor does not preach the Word purely, you should carefully consider whether it is still worth attending services there. However, make the effort yourself and study the Word.
Come on, we are no longer spiritual babies. Paul had to wrestle with this same problem. His work of establishing the church in Corinth went well until he left. Then the people fell back into the customs of the pagans in the city. Read 1 Corinthians 2:14 – 3:3. We have not walked all these years as believers only to give up now. As time goes on, the mountain becomes steeper and the race faster. It is in times like these that you as a believer must immerse yourself in the Word and leave the world and its desires behind. You must take a stand like Joshua. You, as the head, and your family must serve the Lord together. However, you are responsible for taking the lead. My family, which is now much smaller since the children have left the nest, will serve the Lord, regardless of the price that must be paid. What about you? The finish line is in sight. You cannot give up now.