Recounting God’s faithfulness
Soon I will die, going the way of everything on earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed! But as surely as the Lord your God has given you the good things he promised, he will also bring disaster on you if you disobey him. He will completely destroy you from this good land he has given you. Joshua 23:14-15
God has been devoted to us as much as he was to the people of Israel. All believers can say that God has defeated the enemies of their souls and will eventually give them an inheritance in the heavenly Canaan. All of this is because God has chosen to set his heart on his people. It is not because his people are in any way worthy or deserving. The way we show gratitude to God for his blessings is by being devoted to Him, and the way we show devotion to Him is by obeying His Word, holding fast to Him and loving Him above everything else. And let us never forget the connection the Lord Jesus made between loving Him and keeping His commandments. “Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them” (John 14:23). Devotion to God should not be optional. Our well-being hinged on it. Joshua warned the Israelites from the text that if they should choose to ignore His warnings and go after the gods and the practices of the remaining Canaanites, they would find that the God who had devoted Himself to their good would devote Himself to their judgement. They should not doubt this, because the God who had not failed to keep His promises to bless them (v. 14) would not fail to keep His promise to judge them. Joshua was nearing the end of his life and he led the Israelites to look back over their experience to remind them that God had kept every promise. They had experienced numerous victories and had enjoyed God’s provision for every need. Sometimes hindsight gives us a clear picture of how faithful God has been. We are tempted during a crisis to wonder if God will be faithful to His promises. We focus on our problems, and our trust in God begins to waver. Instead, let us rely on God’s faithfulness. When in a crisis, hold to the promises of our Lord! We can always count on Him for He will not forget His promises to us who believe and trusted Him as Lord and Savior. Look back over your Christian life and recount the many ways in which God has been faithful to His word.
Blessings,
Noel De Guzman
www.my-wbc.com
