CHOICES

Tribe Recap of October 7, 2017 | Book of Joshua Final Thoughts

At the end of the book of Joshua, there is an appeal to the people’s choices. Would they choose to follow Yahweh and serve him only or would they go back after the empty things their ancestors worshiped. Joshua utters the famous declaration, “..but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

In the end, our access to God’s power comes down to choice. If the children of Israel would choose God they would gain their inheritance and enjoy rest. Or if God became “disagreeable” (Joshua 24:15 NAS) to them they would choose to go back to worshiping that which is powerless and leads to death.

Believing and trusting God is a choice. What we think about is a choice. How we spend our time and money is a choice. How we treat each other is a choice. Even how we respond to adversity, pain, and disappointment is a choice.

With these daily choices God dials up our destiny. Joshua “waged war a long time” (Joshua 11:18); he had to choose to be persistent, to not give up. Our inheritance and rest follows our faithfulness to God’s plan for our lives. We must fight first.

Will we believe the best in others? Will we believe God has not given up on us? Will we believe there is hope left for that impossible situation? Will we thank and acknowledge God when nothing is working and all seems lost? Will we hold fast to God’s word over our lives and identity amidst the accusations our enemy is constantly throwing at us?

Joshua instructs the people in chapter 23 to “cling to God” (verse 8). This is the best advice. Cling to God! It is God who is enough to fight our battles and secure our souls to the end of our days. So let us be strong and courageous! Let us be confident in being different! Let us diligently take ground and pass on the faithfulness of God to our children!

Let us ask God to release our inheritance to us! Let us surrender to God’s promise over our well being that he will never fail us or forsake us! Let us spread the word of our testimony that God is truly good! Let us take another step forward in redemptively stewarding all God has given us!

When at the end of time and we stand before God, it will be our choices that define our inheritance. It will be the offering of our five small loaves and two small fishes that fed the multitudes and reached the lost through God’s power. We can’t do the impossible, but we can choose God, and in so doing – a miracle. God’s ever-present hand in our lives brings forth our good even in the midst of wreckage and pain.

In a little while, we will look upon the Promised Land of Heaven; we will look upon the face of the Lord. Weigh everything against this moment, following God fully just as Joshua did. And you will see with your own eyes that not a single word of hope God spoke over your life ever failed. He is with you now, and you will see in heaven, he had been with you all the while.