BROADCASTS.com

READ: JOSHUA 1:1-9; EPHESIANS 2:8-10\n\n\n\nJoshua was given a monumental task. He was told to lead his people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River to their new home, the Promised Land. This happened directly after the death of Moses, the one who had led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the desert for forty years to the brink of the Promised Land. God told Joshua to be \u201cstrong and courageous\u201d in Joshua 1:6, again in verse 7, and once more in verse 9.\n\n\n\nThe Promised Land was agriculturally rich and highly desirable, which is why there were already tribes of people there. Joshua\u2019s task was formidable: lead a massive group of people with no military training into a hostile land. But God\u2019s command to Joshua to be \u201cstrong and courageous\u201d is not a mere platitude. It\u2019s based in something solid and unmovable.\n\n\n\nYou see, before God told Joshua to be strong and courageous, He told Joshua what He Himself had already done: \u201cI have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads\u201d (Joshua 1:3). Because God had done His part, Joshua could be strong and courageous as he followed God\u2019s command to lead the people into the Promised Land. Joshua understood the difference between what he was commanded to do and what the Lord had already done.\n\n\n\nThis truth is also the basis of the gospel. We, too, can learn to understand the difference between what God commands us to do and what God has already done. While God does command us to follow in His good ways, our very best works, full of good intentions for others, will do nothing to save us. Kind words, strong morals, helping little old ladies across a street\u2014these are all good things, but none of them will save us from sin and death. It is only the finished work of Christ that can accomplish that. Jesus\u2019s perfect sacrifice, made out of His unending love for us, paves the way. It is His death and resurrection that makes the way for us to be saved. Let\u2019s never confuse what God wants us to do with what He has already done. \u2022 Mike Hurley\n\n\n\n\u2022 God does not command us to save ourselves. Rather, He made the way to save us through Jesus\u2019s life, death, and resurrection. (You can find out more about this good news on our \u201cKnow Jesus\u201d page.) Those who know Jesus are forgiven and made right with God, and we are also empowered by the Holy Spirit, who helps us follow God in every area of our lives. How could resting in what God has done for us help us be \u201cstrong and courageous\u201d as we follow in His good ways?\n\n\n\n\u201cHaven\u2019t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.\u201d Joshua 1:9 (CSB)