“Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.” Joshua 1:18
My boys and I have been reading the book of Joshua together this summer. It isn’t a book I had previously spent much time in and it has been teaching us quite a bit about God’s loyalty to His people and the importance of listening and obeying Him. Chapter after chapter, story after story, I have continued to see a theme, the importance of keeping our loyalty to God and obeying Him promptly and fully.
See Joshua was the chosen leader after Moses’ time on earth ended. He was to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, picking up where Moses left off. As he begins his leadership God tells him 4 times (if I counted correctly) to “Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1) as he instructs him to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River to take ownership over the land on the other side. After issuing this command, God reminds Joshua:
“Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.” Joshua 1:18
I got to thinking a lot about God reminding Joshua to be “strong and courageous” so many times in one chapter. My mind thought of this question, “Why would God repeat the same statement 4x to Joshua?” And it was clear that He must have known how hard what He was sending Joshua to do would be. He also must have known that people wouldn’t listen to Him and Joshua was to only be “strong and courageous,” while remaining loyal to God only.
It wasn’t long before someone disobeyed and despite the warning not to take any possession for oneself upon plundering a city, someone did just that. As the guilty party was called out, I can only imagine the fear Joshua may have had inside as he realized that one of his own, that he had been leading, that he had warned was about to reap the dire consequences of his mistake. It sounds gruesome, but he was stoned, and burned along with his family, livestock, and possessions (Joshua 7). Later, Joshua gathered the remaining Israelites to renew their covenant with the Lord. I am sure that ceremony was very significant, meaningful, and humbling after witnessing what can come when our loyalty strays from God alone.
See, loyalty to anything else but God betrays us every time.
Sometimes we are loyal to a person. We do our best to please a person, honor them, give them their way even when the truth is they should be told no or have limits set. Sometimes we are loyal to an organization. Maybe our work or a church. Maybe our loyalty is to an animal, a pet. But loyalty is an unswerving allegiance to something1, so, what happens when God’s leading and guidance asks us to step away from that which we are loyal to for Him to step in and do His own will in a situation? Will we pay Him loyalty or will we stand by what we were remaining loyal to? That is a thinker!
How often do we feel honorable by being loyal to the places we work, attend church, our children, or the people we are in relationship with? Tempted to meet their needs, asks, wants, believing we are honoring God by honoring them when maybe they need less of us and more of Him? It can be a tough thing to discern sometimes, but I have had countless occasions where my instinct to step in and do something didn’t seem to match God’s leading and trust He knew the bigger picture and my loyalty must remain with Him despite how it may look to the ones around me.
This week Father and moving forward, please help us to surrender our loyalty to you alone. To know when to speak up and when to step back. How to honor the people, organizations, and relationships in our life without putting them above your will on our life. We are sorry when we get the order wrong, forgive us and lead us. Let us renew our covenant of loyalty to you, today.
Renewing my loyalty to God with you, Julie
P.S. Today’s image is of my children and me this week. If there is one area that God challenges me it is in my loyalty to my children and knowing when to step back and let God have them and teach them things that require my absence. Please keep leading me Father, I need your help.
Father, Today I Surrender:
My Loyalty
Show me the next step I should take.