Love the Lord

Joshua 23:6-11

6 “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.
9 “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the Lord your God.

Heat Wave

This summer has been extra hot because of heat wave. There have been a number of heat wave-related deaths reported. Many cities in Europe are installing water tanks and drinking fountains on the streets. They are also humidifying the air by watering the streets and installing water vapour sprayers.

Heat wave caused not just death but also wild fires. The heat wave reminds us that this earth will be destroyed by fire eventually. Freshwater from a fountain is more appreciated when there’s extreme heat. Did God allow heat waves to remind people of the need of a fountain of life? Proverbs 14:27 says, 27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.

The Lord gave us life. He is the source of our life. It is necessary to fear the Lord for us to live our life to its fullness. “The fear of the Lord” is a biblical term for “reverence of God.” “Fear of the Lord” is recognition that God controls life. As a result, it inspires us to be faithful, cleave, cling or hold fast to the Lord.

1. Hold Fast

6 “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.

The fear of the Lord makes us alert and aware of our need to carefully obey the Lord. Joshua reminded the Israelites to be very strong in their obedience to the Law of Moses. To be careful is to be sure that they won’t rebel against the Lord. Life on earth is like driving in a fast lane. It’s requires careful navigation. In Proverbs 16:17, 17 The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives.

Driving in a fast lave (say 100kph speed), one needs to stay in the proper lane. It demands carefulness when turning to the right or left. Travellers have proven that when they drove in the superhighways and made one wrong turn, it caused unnecessary delay of their travel. Not only that, they wasted time, effort and gas or money.

Likewise, deviating from the law of the Lord may delay the progress of spiritual maturity. Joshua told the Israelites that associating and following the lifestyle of the remaining nations among them is deviation from the Law of Moses.
It teaches in Proverbs 19:16, 16 Whoever keeps commandments keeps their life.

Until the time Joshua gave his farewell speech, the Israelites were still strong and carefully obeyed what Moses has written. When Joshua warned them to hold fast to the Lord, he anticipated that they would soon deviate from the Book of the Law after he is gone. They may not intentionally forget God but they may occasionally break His law.

Drainage

The drainage under the kitchen sink was a mess. The sewerage lines had been clogged. Silt, sediment, sand, soil, or grease might have been trapped and deposited in the plumbing system and prevented smooth flow of water. It’s no pleasant situation.
Occasional deviation from God’s Law is like collecting or depositing sediments in a sewerage system. It may start on trivial iniquity or wickedness on few occasions.
It teaches us in James 1:14-15, 14 Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

The inclination of our heart is always evil. If we are not careful with our lifestyle, it could progress from infrequency to occasional then complete disregard of God’s law.
Indeed it happened to the Israelite, few decades after Joshua and the elders died.
In Judges 2:7-12, 7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. 8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.
11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger.

Jews or Gentiles, obedience or disobedience to God’s Law has consequences. Believers live by faith, but God’s Law is very essential to spiritual growth. The Law of the Lord is our mirror to check and reflect on if we really are living our life by faith.
In the time of Joshua, the Israelites obeyed carefully the Law of God. As a result God drove out their enemies before them.

2. Drive Out

9 “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the Lord your God.

When the Israelites carefully loved the Lord, they were victorious in battle. Their enemies were great and powerful. They’ve more advance weaponry than the weapons used by the Israelites. Advance weaponry was not effective against Israel. One Israelite was equivalent to a thousand enemies because it was Lord who fought for them.
Before they crossed the Jordan River, the Lord promised that He will fight for the Israelites, and He did it as promised. God’s promises come true because God doesn’t lie. It teaches in Numbers 23:19, 19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
There are more than 3,000 promises of God in the Bible. There are promises generally applicable to all believers. There are specific promises for individual persons.
The promise of the Holy Sprit, eternal life, forgiveness of sin and blessings are certainly given to all who trust in Christ Jesus. The Lord who promised them is the truth.
Christ is the truth. He sets us free from the grip of our enemy. Our greatest enemy is our sinful nature. By faith in Christ the Truth, we are freed from our sinful nature.
He declared in John 8:31-36, 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Sin prevents the flow of enjoyable lifestyle that God has designed for us. Slavery to sin is disobedience to His command. God’s greatest command to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength is the lifestyle designed for believers freed from sin. When we love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, we enjoy our life in Christ.
A joyful life in Christ is not without problems. But in the midst of difficulties, the Spirit of Christ bears in us the fruit of joy when we submit to Him. We have the Spirit of Christ in us, right? But why do we still need to obey the Law or the word of God?
Paul explained in Galatians 4:1-8, 1What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. 8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.

God’s command is our guardian as we walk spiritually. As we grow spiritually mature, we learn to walk our lifestyle like God’s child, don’t feel any force to obey His commands anymore because there’s willingness to obey spontaneously, enthusiastically.
Joshua warned the Israelites to be strong and carefully obey the Book of Law. He pointed out how they were delivered from their powerful enemies just as the Lord promised them. He reminded them to love and hold fast to the Lord.

Cruise Control

To love and hold fast to the Lord is like maintaining a specified speed limit while driving. A system called ‘cruise control’ installed in modern vehicles maintains the desired speed limit, and not worried about over-speeding or under-speeding. Driving is enjoying when there’s no traffic violation.
Similarly, we can enjoy our Christian lifestyle to its fullness when we don’t violate the Law of the Lord. When we submit to Lordship of Christ, the Holy Spirit serves as the ‘cruise control’ for us not to over-speed or under-speed in our lifestyle.
Loving the Lord with all our hearts, mind, soul and strength is the best lifestyle God has designed for us. It is only possible when we totally submit to Christ’s Lordship.
God’s grace is much appreciated when Christ’s Spirit is leading us in our lifestyle.

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