The good land

Then know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive them out of your land...and you will vanish from this good land the Lord your God has given you. 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. If you break the covenant of the Lord your God by worshiping and serving other gods, his anger will burn against you, and you will quickly vanish from the good land he has given you. Joshua 23:14-16 NLT

From the text, Joshua reminded the Israelites that the land God promised to them as inheritance was “the good land he has given you” (vv. 13, 15, 16). This was in fulfillment to what God promised to the Israelites through Moses. “So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live” (Exodus 3:8). Since this is a good land they inherited from God, the least thing that the Israelites could do is to be grateful. And such gratefulness should be shown through their obedience to His word. When we are in the presence of God worshiping Him and meditating about His goodness, these should prompt us to be obedient. Thinking about the goodness of God will remind us not to be overcome with temptation. “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away...So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens” (James 1:13-17). The prodigal son returned to the Father because he was drawn by the fact that his Father is good. “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger” (Luke 15:17). The problem with us at times is that we tend to focus more on the blessings and the gifts that we forget the Source of all these good things. When we meditate upon the goodness of God, let us keep His word (Joshua 23:6), let us cling to Him and not to the world (Joshua 23:8), and let us love Him (Joshua 23:11). “God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4 ESV).

Blessings,