“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” —- Joshua 1:8-9 (NKJV)
The commission of Joshua to lead the people of Israel to the promised land bears great similarity to the commission given to Christians to lead unbelievers to Christ.
Joshua was first encouraged to be of good courage but was also commanded to demonstrate this courage through his actions in the form of obedience to the law of God. Joshua needed such a strong encouragement and reassurance from the Lord because the children of Israel, whom he’s appointed to lead could be frustrating, intimidating and rebellious at times. Hence it was imperative that he found the courage to lead this people otherwise he could succumb to their intimidation and rebellious attitudes. In like manner, as Christians, we are expected to show courage when leading unbelievers to the Lord Jesus Christ, because some of them are naturally inclined to oppose our message of Salvation through their rebellious attitudes. We must remember that God is aware of our weaknesses and the nature of the people He has commanded to lead to His Salvation. Therefore, He has promised to be there with us – He said “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5)
Joshua’s commission was predicated on the study of God’s laws, and for his faith to be active he needed to meditate on them and most importantly obey them. Only then is he guaranteed of success. It should be noted that this commission emphasizes obedience rather than confession of the law as is the practice of some who believe that by confession only we will get the reward associated with the promises in the Word of God.
Today we might claim that we have little or no time to study God’s word. More often than not, we blame our lack of appetite for reading God’s word, let alone obeying, on our busy schedules. However, Daniel was a leader of three provinces yet he had time to pray three times a day – Daniel 6:10. Our busy schedule should not be an excuse for not studying and meditate on God’s Word. God knows how busy we are and He still says we must study, meditate on His Word and obey them. We must create the time, and if we are to be honest with ourselves, we do have time available to us but we would rather spend our spare time on other mundane things.
We might ask, if God promised to be with Joshua all the way, why then was it necessary for Joshua to study the book of the law? It was important because only by studying would he know more about God, His ways and also His instructions. God has also promised to be with us as Christians, but we must also be ready to do the required studying to learn more about Him and His commands to us. In Joshua 21 vs 45, the Bible tells us that everything God promised Joshua was fulfilled, which should encourage and assure us too that God will honour His promises to us.
Finally, as God empowered Joshua to lead Israel, He has empowered us to lead sinners to Christ – Act 1:8. Therefore, we should be bold to stand-out in the crowd by speaking the truth of God’s Word. It is very easy to go with popular opinion even when it’s obviously wrong, but it takes great courage to stand-out and probably stand alone for Christ. Despite the obvious attitude and behaviour of the children of Israel, Joshua was able to see them through the eyes of God. In like manner, we must view unbelievers through the eyes of God and not by their characters and attitude, which frankly speaking, will be off-putting at times to say the least. But when we are able to see that God has the power to change and transform anybody, then we will begin to see many unbelievers won to Christ and many unregenerated souls transformed for God.