You remember Joshua from the Bible? You know the guy God chose to lead His people after Moses died.  One of the twelve spies Moses sent into the promised land to check out the land God had promised His people, a “land flowing with milk and honey”. He and Caleb were the only two who believed God would help them conquer and take possession of this land, this good land. Because of their faith, these two men were the only ones allowed to enter the promise land. You can read more about this in Numbers 13.

It is amazing that God still uses Old Testament scripture to speak and teach His people today! Hebrews 4:12 tells us “God’s word is alive and effective, sharper than a double-edge sword” and that it can “penetrate the depths of our heart and soul”. I share this because God often speaks to me through the Old Testament, showing me nothing really has changed when it comes to following God. I don’t want to get into a theological debate here. Yes, we know Jesus better and differently than OT people did, yes we live in a much different world and yes our circumstances are not the same. But that doesn’t mean God cannot still teach us valuable lesions through every single word in scripture. After it is “alive and effective”.

Joshua 23 is a recent example of Old Testament scripture convicting and teaching me. By the time we get to chapter 23 in the book of Joshua, the people of Israel had taken possession of the land God promised them and Joshua was nearing the end of his life. He wanted to make sure his people not only remembered where they came from and what God had done for them, but also to challenge them to continue living for God. Check out what He says in 6-10 -”Be very strong and continue obeying all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you do not turn from it to the right or left  and so that you do not associate with these nations remaining among you. Do not call on the names of their gods or make an oath to them; do not serve them or bow in worship to them.  Instead, be loyal to the Lord your God, as you have been to this day.” Allow me to paraphrase “Obey God ALL the way. Don’t worship other gods or idols and watch out who you hang out with. Stay true to the One True God.”.

Joshua goes on to say a few verses later;  “you’ve still got work to do, so don’t get lazy. Don’t allow foreigners and their false gods to hang around. Just go ahead and deal with them now. So that the good land God has given you is not taken away” (my paraphrase). I encourage you to stop here and go read Joshua 23 for yourself, but do so thinking about your present circumstances and the “good land God has given you”. 

Here is what God taught me through this passage – God, the One True God has purposefully placed me exactly where He wants me – in my own “good land”. The family, the church, the job, the community where I live and do life is that “good land”. And the same is true for each of you. When we fully understand this, we have to ask ourselves some hard questions. Am I being faithful to what God has asked me to do in the places He has placed me? Am I sharing His word, getting rid of idols (yes, we all have them), setting boundaries, having honest conversations with our family, friends and co-workers who don’t know Jesus? The truth is when we choose to disobey God, there will be consequences and one of those could very well be, losing out on blessings God has planned for us, potentially being taken out of our good land.

Let’s get real for a minute, here in America there are very few days when we don’t encounter at least one person who doesn’t know and or believe in God. Or someone who may believe but is choosing not to follow Him. As Christ followers, our lives, how we live, our words, our actions, even our attitudes are on display for all to see. And yes, people are watching! It’s so very easy to become lackadaisical or lazy in our representation of our Savior. It’s so easy to go through the motions, figuring we’ll try harder tomorrow or next week. We all make excuses and allow idols to hang around figuring at least we are doing better than others we know. But the hard truth is when we do those things we are in fact disobeying God. 

So we have to ask – who am I showing those watching how I live? Does my life allow Jesus to shine through and get all the glory, or do I only lookout for myself and what I want and think is right? 

This was convicting for me because I have become lazy in several areas of my life. I have chosen in some cases to hide away and live in the safety of my comfort zone, knowing full well God has called me to do more, share more, tell more, show Him off more. And you know what, I’m so very glad God called me on it! Because I want to enter and live in the good land God has given me!