“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:7–9, ESV
Be strong and courageous are repeated often in Joshua. Right in the beginning, God speaks the promise that He spoke to Moses for the people of Israel. The promise of God to the people of Israel was a promise greater than they understood, and sadly they were not able to keep their side of the promise. If they continued to be faithful to God and the Word of God their victory was won well before they met an enemy. The reiteration of the promise here goes back to what God said in Exodus which promised them fruitfulness. Fruitfulness with their family, with their land, in battle, and in a growing territory. The promise of God had no limits and the boundaries that they were promised were much bigger than what they ended up receiving. Sadly, we know that they failed because if they had been able to truly keep the Law of God there would be no need for Jesus. We would have had no need for the final sacrifice that freed us all and continues to release the binds of those wrapped up in rebelliousness and sin. Keeping God’s Law is hard. In fact, it is impossible for us in our state. Yet, the solution comes when we are able to confess that Jesus is Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, we can always walk in the reminder that in our faith, the calling of God is to be strong and courageous. We are meant to stand firm in the faith that we have been given and never turn from it because we know it is true. We know it will stand fast. We have our confidence in the eternity that is guaranteed for us. Be strong and courageous in the promises of Christ Jesus and never lose hope and watch as He expands the territory that He has prepared before us.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.