Not for Cowards

“Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe 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 of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:7–9)

All good things take courage. Cowards are shut out of the kingdom of God. (Revelation 21:8) Who are those who are “strong and courageous”? Those who love the Word of God and obey it; those who love the Word of God and fashion their lives according to it. Yes, it takes guts to be a Christian. It takes genuine courage to follow in the steps of Joshua.

At the point these words of God are spoken to Joshua, he is on the cusp of a new world. All of his peers (except one other courageous, Caleb) are dead, and the greatest leader of his time, who provided courageous in-the-face-of-danger-and-rejection leadership for forty years, has just died as well—Moses the man of God, the servant of Jehovah. Half of Joshua’s life has been spent in slavery; the second half wandering in the wilderness. Now he is being called upon—at the age of eighty—to lead all Israel in executing swift and terrible judgment on the heathen nations, conquering them in God’s name, and settling the land of Canaan, promised by God to His faithful.

The Word of God to Joshua? Seize the land, slaughter its inhabitants, divide it among the children of Israel, and judge them righteously as the servant of God. How is he to do all of this? Trusting in the God who alone gives victory—who unseats kings and exalts the lowly—by observing to do all His Holy Will revealed in His Holy Law. If God’s Word is on his lips and in his heart and at his fingertips, then Joshua will prosper and be successful. He will face impenetrable city walls and see them crumble; he will do battle with giants and see them run.

Christianity is the only avenue to true peace, but it is not a “peaceful” religion. Jesus (whose name is Joshua in the Hebrew, by the way) leads us ever onward into new territories, putting the sword of God’s Spirit in our hand, commanding us to engage with the enemy. There are sins—strong, old, deeply-embedded sins—in ourselves, in our families, and in our culture that deserve nothing but the slaughter mentality: “By the Spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh.” (Romans 8:13) It takes courage to face them and do them in, but face them we must, the Word of God our only light in doing so. There are nations to conquer with the gospel of God, kings to be converted, civilizations to be built with the cross of Christ at the center. This always takes courage and strength, and these are supplied in abundance to those who will follow, laying down their lives for the sake of their Lord who is with us in the midst of the battle, wherever we go.

Be strong and courageous! God will make you to prosper—if You follow Him as He leads you by His Word into strange and wonderful worlds where the Word of God reigns supreme.

“Great God and Father of us all, we ask that You would make us like Joshua, and grant to us the strength and courage to do Your will, to obey Your Word, to do battle with sin, to face off with giants. We pray You would make us to prosper and be successful in all to which You call us—implant Your Word in our minds, on our tongues, in our hearts. We give thanks to You for all the strong and courageous men and women who have faithfully brought the kingdom to our doorstep, and we pray we would be like them inasmuch as they are like our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.”