Even when the plans seem absurd…
Be Strong & Courageous (Part 1)
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Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. … Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:7,9 (ESV)
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Well, that’s interesting.
Here we have a conditional promise from God to Joshua.
It’s also penned down for us to read and learn from as well.
Good success wherever you go tends to follow people who are careful to obey God’s law.
Of course there’s a lot of old covenant stuff in there and Jesus went ahead and completed that, giving us a new covenant in its stead.
Also, I’m taking this as more of a general truth rather than an absolute (the same way I treat the wisdom proverbs).
All that aside, I tend not to think of God’s promises as having conditions on them, yet here we are.
My hesitation is because I know that our salvation is based on the work of Christ, not any work that I can do.
But this isn’t about salvation, instead it’s about obedience.
Which we do out of the love we have for God -- which overflows from His love in us and the salvation He does.
It’s a bit circular, but love is that way.
I obey because I love, I do not obey to receive love. Yet blessings do tend to fall on people who obey.
Any serious observation of life could tell you that following God’s plans works better than following the world’s or our own plans.
Even when His plans seem absurd.
(e.g., walk around the city of Jericho for a week and then shout loudly and the walls will collapse. Seems absurd, but God made it work.)
— Ricky Ketchum
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