When the aged Joshua gave his final warnings to the Israelites just before his death, the children of God were surrounded by polytheistic nations who resented them.
And even within the newly established boundaries of the Promised Land there were pockets of polytheism because the Israelites had not pushed and prayed hard enough to overcome the stubborn resistance.
Joshua knew the Israelites had not obeyed God fully and that they were at risk of losing what God had given them.
He told them in Joshua 23 that their future would be determined by their choices, not the choices of their enemies.
If they were faithful to God and trusting of His promises, they would dwell and enjoy blessing in Palestine for generation after generation.
“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. 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. But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now.” Joshua 23:6-8
If they didn’t stay on the straight and narrow, he said in verse 13, bad things would happen.
“…then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you.”
Is turning to the right or to the left ever a problem for us? Do we ever fall into the trap of trusting the “gods” of material things or earthly strategies in order to find inner peace and outer prosperity?
Here’s one way to check yourself with these questions. If your self-improvement strategy for relationships, for career, for personal financial/physical health is relying more on books, CDs, DVDs and infomercials than it is on reading the Bible, then you are on the road to getting off-track spiritually.
There are countless advice sources today that promise a better life with no reference to God and His Word. And there are thousands of people, sometimes millions, who embrace the non-theistic approach to life.
Please be salt to a decaying world, displaying not only the flavoring nature of God’s Word but also the purifying nature of God’s Word that protects you from corrupting influences.
When you and I hold fast to the Word and walk in its ways, we are empowered and protected from the worst of Satan’s snares and traps. The blessings that He’s already prepared for us will be sent into our lives at the time and in the way that best serves His Kingdom and our corner of this world.
And if we ever need reminding that this is true, we simply have to observe the troubled lives of church people who stopped living according to the Word and started trusting the lies of the world as the way to get what the world defines as success.
So often their lives become SO conflicted and it is SO sad.
Hold fast to the Lord your God, my friend.
You’ll be glad you did.
Forever.
As always, I love you
Martin
