Devotion

Daniel Bryan

Joshua • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Joshua 23

Commitment

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God's great call to leaders and follower is a total devotion to Him.

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

Devotion

Introduction

Good morning everyone. Today in America we have a new president but we have the same God. A new party is in power but the same God and values define our lives. New ideas will guide government agencies and efforts but our ideas will still be anchored in the word of God. Welcome to the unshakeable, ever loving, Church of Jesus Christ.

OK, last week we looked at Joshua chapter 22. We saw the nation face a massive misunderstanding that put them on the brink of civil war. You remember, two of the tribes built a big alter on the East side of the Jordan River. In the eyes of the other nine and a half tribes this represented rebellion against God and secession from the unity that defined the country.

This action called for war. Yet thanks to the cool heads of wise men and women a delegation was sent.

Misunderstandings were cleared. And it turned out that what appeared to be an insult to the unity of the country and the worship of God was in fact a monument to God and the nation. We saw the necessity of not assuming you know what's going on in another's heart and mind. We saw the potential for great damage in making assumptions about other believers. And what's more we saw throughout scripture the call for us to be those who pursue peace.

If you think about it, as followers of Jesus Christ we should not have to worry in our world. If we insult someone we know how to ask forgiveness because we know how to receive forgiveness. If we see a situation that needs peace we know how to pursue it because we know how to live sacrificially and love faithfully and forgive deeply. We are better positioned than anyone else to be architects of peace in our families and communities. We are peace makers. And we are blessed.

But enough about last week today we're going to look ahead at the words of Joshua. At this juncture Joshua is calling the country together calling the leaders together. In chapter 23 Joshua challenges the leaders of the country . In chapter 24 he challenges the rest of the country as well. Both challenges are applicable to all of us today. So let's dive in.

The Lord your God

The most important phrase in the first address is “the Lord Your God.” Repeatedly Joshua calls the people to turn their attention to their God. 14 different times this phrase appears. The phrase and the point are clear: success is found in remaining focused on God.

As humans we have limited capacity to prioritize and focus on things. Studies have proven for both men and women our ability to hold multiple things in our minds and focus is limited. God and his servant Joshua knew this.

For those of you who actually have physical Bibles here flip to the beginning of your Bible. Put your hand at the beginning of Genesis and then advance 5 books from Genesis to Exodus to Leviticus, to Numbers and then Deuteronomy. Put your other hand at the end of Deuteronomy. Those five books you’re holding represent the Law and guidelines by which the nation of Israel was called to live before God. That’s over 600 individuals laws that govern the nation in God’s sight. Joshua knew this would take a lifetime to learn. So he gave them something simple to focus on. He said to remember “the Lord Your God.”

This isn’t to eliminate their obligation to the many laws, but it gave them something to work with. In the same way my job is to love my wife. This doesn't mean I can take a break from doing the dishes, being a father to my children, taking out the trash, working hard at work, and hundreds of other things I do as her husband. This doesn't mean I fail to respect her and honor her when I'm with her and when I'm not with her. The reminder to love my wife is a simple command with life-wide effects.

For our passage today the simple message for the nation of Israel is that success is found in keeping focused on God.

Let's take a look at the different sections of joshua's speech here.

Joshua 23:3–5 ESV

3 And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. 4 Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5 The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.

First of all Joshua wants to remind everyone listening what God is done for them. God has bought for them he's equipped them to conquer their enemies he's given them this land they are in and God will continue to fight for Israel all of these things God did in keeping with his promises.

In short

The Lord Your God Deserves Your Devotion

How much has God done for you? How much has he enabled you in your life? How much has he fought for you? And what promises has he made? Do you know those off the top of your head?

It's been said that we don't need to be told but we do need to be reminded. We need to be reminded how to eat healthy. We need to be reminded to exercise. We need to be reminded to love our wives. We need to be reminded to obey our parents. We need to be reminded to love God. We need to be reminded that God keeps his promises.

God is worthy of the devotion of the Israelites. God is worthy of our devotion. But what does devocion look like? If God has moved heaven and earth for us, how should we respond in an appropriate manner?

Let's look at this next section here:

Joshua 23:6–7 ESV

6 Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, 7 that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them,

Devotion to God first involves keeping and doing.

If the Israelites were going to succeed. If the Israelites were going to honor God and show their devotion to him they needed to obey what God called them to do. They needed a laser like focus on the task at hand. And God didn't leave them with some mystery to be solved, he gave them his law. He gave them instructions. He gave them details. He showed them how to live every day , how to deal with sin, and how to receive his blessing on their lives.

What's more, in the next verse , 7, he reminds them that part of the purpose of following God's law is so that they don't mix with the nations around them. You see , we become like the people we spend time with. like it or not you will be powerfully influenced by the family you marry into. Like it or not you will be powerfully influenced by the people you work with. You will be powerfully influenced by the friends you associate yourself with.

Now, short of going in living in a monastery or sequestering yourself on a farm and refusing to come out until the world changes its ways ... short of this we must live in the world. But the problem is so much of the world , and so many of the people we associate with or not people of wisdom. They offer bad counsel. You can't follow both good advice and bad advice.

So if the Israelites were going to live for God in a world that very much wanted them to live for themselves they needed a serious focus on keeping and doing God's word.

Devotion to God also involves holding fast

Joshua 23:8–10 ESV

8 but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. 9 For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day. 10 One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.

The Israelites lived in a world that was always and would always me trying to pull them away from worshipping God. We live in the same world today. The Israelites were called to cling to God. They were called to remember that God accomplishes fantastic things to those who cling to him. Are you willing to hold on to God?

Are you willing to trust your commitments and confidence more than you trust your feelings in the moment? That's one of the worst pieces of advice offered in Movies and TV shows ... follow your feelings. Choose to trust God and allow your feelings to catch up.

Devotion to God also means loving God

Joshua 23:11 ESV

11 Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God.

I love this. We like to think of the Old Testament having a lot of rules. But from the very beginning God called his people to love him. If you love God you will find it much easier to obey God. If you love God you will find it much easier to respond to his call on your life.

God calls us to obey him but it is not out of a sense of duty , he calls us to obey him out of a heart of love.

Now in this passage Joshua pivots a little bit. Joshua wants them to understand there are consequences to a lack of devotion to God.

Joshua 23:12–16 ESV

12 For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you. 14 “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15 But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the Lord your God has given you, 16 if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

Joshua wanted Israelites to know that devotion to God should not be considered optional for them. God devoted himself to their good ... to the good of his people. And God devoted himself to the judgment of their enemies. But they must remember that if they chose to reject God , God would judge them. This same God of love is also quite capable of anger.

What does this passage say to us today?

God is devoted to us as much as to the people of Israel.

First of all God is just as devoted to us as he is to the people of Israel. As Christians we can say that God has defeated the enemies of our souls and he is given us an inheritance in a heavenly Canaan. God chose to set his heart on us his people. It's not because we deserve him but because he chose us.

God calls us to devotion to him

one of the best ways we show our thankfulness to God for his blessings as by our devotion to him. And we show our devotion by obeying his word and by holding on tight to him. We are called to love him above all else. Remember what Jesus said about loving God and obeying him?

John 14:23 ESV

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

God is still devoted to chastisement as well.

God is still so devoted to us his people that he is unwilling to let us slide into sin. He is more than willing to discipline us . Not because he is cruel but because he loves us. He disciplines us so that we can respond in obedience to him.

Hebrews 12:10 ESV

10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.

I love how the writer of Hebrews puts it:

Hebrews 12:11 ESV

11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

We need to embrace the uncomfortable moments of life and the aches and pains that God allows. Because we know that in that God is forming our characters and transforming us into men and women who have the capacity to follow and obey him.

Conclusion

Just as God called the nation of Israel to a wholehearted devotion to him. God calls us to the same. And just as the nation of Israel had many different laws to follow and things to do , today following God isn't always simple. We have a lot of commitments in our lives and responsibilities. But at the heart of it all remains the question: in my devoted to God? Do I love God with my heart , my soul, and my mind? I guarantee if you get your relationship with God right this week if you hold fast to God, you will experience the life he wants to give you. You will find the peace he wants to give you.