Bible Marginalia- Cling to the Lord

Bible Marginalia Series- #47

Joshua's Charge to the Leaders-

 Chapter 23

The same old problem surrounded the people of Israel.

 The other gods.

The easy to follow.

The attractive idols.

The popular culture.

Everything about what Joshua had to say was counter-cultural.

The people of Israel were in a constant battle

 of following after the heart of God for awhile-

 and then it just went away.

 The desire slowly slipped away as it was replaced by "the easy".

As Joshua was advanced in age he called all the leaders-

and set out some basic leadership principles for them to 

live by.

Sort of early "John Maxwell".

Be strong to KEEP and DO

 all that is written in the Book of Law of Moses.

CLING to the Lord your God as you have done.

REMEMBER it is the LORD who fights for you.

Be VERY CAREFUL to Love the Lord your God.

You know that NOT ONE WORD has failed 

of all the good things that the Lord has promised you,

but just as all the good things were  promised, 

so the Lord will bring upon you all the evil things

 if you transgress the covenant

 of the Lord and go and serve other gods. 

So, I know that we live in the

 New Testament promise of covenant- 

that it is not what we DO, 

or how PERFECTLY 

we keep our lives in relationship to God.

Jesus kept the perfect for each of us.

But, our Lord demands heartfelt following.

He still lays out the command-

No other gods before me.

Simple.

To the point.

 This is the measure of where

 we need to ask for Holy Spirit help.

It is nothing we can do ourselves.

So, my prayer becomes-

"Lord, let me CLING to YOU."