3.138 Observe To Do... Turn Not

In Matthew 5, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world, reminding us that our lives are meant to preserve, illuminate, and point others to Him. This season on Savory Salt, we'll walk through the Old Testament, one verse and one thought each day. Perhaps these moments will add greater savor and brighter light to our lives as we seek to truly live as Savory Salt.

Hello, my friends, it's a new day with new opportunities. Choose ye this day whom you will serve. Have you ever felt inadequate for a calling?

Let's imagine Joshua's role for just a second. Taking over after Moses had led the people of Israel for 80-ish years? That had to have come with some angst and anxiety.

The Lord's got an answer to help him, and it's an answer that could also help us in our times of feeling inadequate. We are starting this week reading the Book of Joshua. Now, the Come Follow Me chapters are Joshua 1 through 8 and 23 and 24.

But for the sake of moving along here, we'll just say the Book of Joshua this week. As we take a look here, if you'll remember just a little bit for this position in this calling. Now, Moses is gone, and in comes Joshua, and Joshua is going to be the one we are going to see in the Book of Joshua here.

The children of Israel getting the Promised Land. It's going to be Joshua. It's going to take them in there.

And also, another transition we are going to see in the Old Testament here is we are going to get into kind of the storytelling part of the Old Testament. The historical record piece, but it's basically the places where we see the stories and the hand of the Lord inside of these stories. I would absolutely encourage you to dive in and Come Follow Me to the "Thoughts to Keep in Mind" section here in terms of the historical books of the Old Testament.

Super, super great spot there to dive in. Now, let's get back to Joshua and perhaps his feelings of inadequacy. What could the Lord possibly say to him that would help him feel like he could do this?

Our verse for today is Joshua 1:7. I debated about verse 6 because of the tagline, "Be strong and of good courage." That is very important to me. I think that's an important message from the Lord to all of us to be strong and of good courage.

So perhaps verse 7 then, a little bit of a redundancy here, but it's got a little bit more to it as well. And this is what I think the Lord could possibly say to any one of us feeling a little underqualified for the roles that we have been asked to fulfill in our callings. It says: "Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded thee: Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest." Now, I love that end sentence there, or that end phrase, whatever you want to call it there.

Prosper whithersoever thou goest. There's the promise part of what the Lord is saying. What are the things we need to do in order to prosper whithersoever thou goest?

Well, the first thing we get here is to be strong and be courageous. We've got to be willing to stand up and step into our callings. Consider the counsel of Joshua here as he takes on the mantle of prophet after Moses, who had led the people for such a long time.

Be strong, be courageous, be obedient, as obedient as you possibly can. Don't turn to the left or to the right. Don't change things up.

The Lord knows what he's doing and where he can take you. So that you also, and me too, can prosper whithersoever we goest. That is an encouraging thought indeed.

What a great start to the Book of Joshua. That's all for today, my friends. You and I have come here for such a time as this.

Step forward in faith, and let's be Savory Salt. We will be here tomorrow, and we hope you are too.