Be strong and courageous

Posted on by Dave

I was just reading Joshua chapter one. This is where God charges Joshua with taking over from Moses as the leader of the people and taking them into the promises land.

Today four things jumped out at me from verses Joshua 1:6-8. Here is the text…

6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very cour- ageous. Be careful to obey all the laws my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Here are the four points for reflection…

1. Courageous

God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous three times in these verses. The task God was giving Joshua was not going to be easy. He was to lead the armies of Israel to take the Promised Land. Joshua needed to be strong and courageous and know God would always be with him (v9).

2. Remember

God tells Joshua to remember all that Moses had told him. He said it was very important to obey all of the instructions Moses had given him (v7). God spoke face to face with Moses and he would have passed a lot of this on to Joshua. Joshua needed to remember Moses’ leadership lessons and God’s instructions to Moses.

3. Meditate

God tells Joshua to constantly read and meditate on God’s Word – “The Book of Instruction”. God tells Joshua to do this and to be careful to obey everything in it. He promised that if he does, Joshua will prosper and be successful in all he does. Reading God’s Word keeps us in tune with God.

4. Promises

In this passage we also see that God uses people to fulfil the promises He has made to others. In verse 6 God says, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.” God used Joshua to bring His vow to pass. Today God uses you and I to bring His promises to pass.

Conclusion

So today we need to learn from God’s encouragement to Joshua if we are taking on something very big. We need to remember to be courageous and God is with us, remember what our leaders have taught us, read and meditate on God’s Word and remember God uses ordinary people to being about His plans.