April Twenty-first
Today’s One Year Bible Reading…
Joshua 22:21-23:16 * Luke 20:27-47
Psalm 89:14-37 * Proverbs 13:17-19
"But I will never stop loving him, nor fail to keep My promise to him. No, I will not break My covenant;
I will not take back a single word I said."
Psalm 89:33-34
Our God will always prove to be faithful and true! We can forever trust His words to be strong, His paths to be sure, and His promises to be steadfast.
"Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the LORD your God has come true,
not a single one has failed."
(Joshua 23:14)
I wonder if David had times where he drew strength from these words of God that Joshua spoke over the nation Israel. Both men had promises that they had waited long to see fulfilled, but here, Joshua already has the testimony of seeing God remain faithful to bring His words to pass. Still living in caves and on the constant run from king Saul, maybe there were moments where David stirred up his confidence and faith by remembering that God had never failed to do what He said He would do. Fulfilled promises often look a little different than we’d imagined them to look and take a little longer to be fulfilled than we’d imagined them to take. But God’s words will never fall forgotten by Him, and He is always working all things together for the good of those who love and trust Him. Joshua reminds the nation of Israel that even as God kept His promises of blessings for obedience, there were also promised consequences for those who would instead choose to turn away from the paths of God and to follow their own ways. (Joshua 23:15) The blessings of God will never be found in chasing after our own lust, desires, and supposed ideals. Our own fleshly paths seem appealing for a moment but will always prove to have devasting and painful consequences. God has laid out clear Biblical paths for us and it’s in those that our joy and peace will be abundant.
"Rather, cling tightly to the LORD your God as you have done until now...
So be very careful to love the LORD your God."
(Joshua 23:5, 11)
God is the One who drives our enemies out before us. (Joshua 23:5) God is the one who can set a thousand to flight before us. (Joshua 23:10) For those reasons and a thousand others, extreme care should be taken by us to ensure that we are clinging tightly to God and following after Him with all we are.
"So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction.
Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left."
(Joshua 23:67)
Holding fast and clinging tightly come as we love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. As we seek to live out the most important command of loving Him, we will find that He is the One who has truly been holding onto us the whole time we were seeking to cling to Him.
"It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them."
(Proverbs 13:19)
It’s foolish to think we could ever find peace, joy, and fulfillment from following after any kind of path drawn up by the evil one. Jesus is our peace, joy, and fulfillment of satisfaction. May we cling to Him with all we are, trusting that He is good and will bring every good word to pass in His perfect timing.
"So He is the God of the living, not of the dead, for they are all alive to Him."
Luke 20:38
What stood out to you from today’s Bible reading?