After languishing forty years in the
desert, the Israelites were camped on the eastern side of the Jordan River before
going over into the land of Canaan promised to Abraham and his descendants (Gen
12:1-3). The LORD spoke to Joshua and reminded him that every footprint he made
was a gift, but what was given had qualifiers.
One, the gift was going to require effort (Jos 1:3). How often do we forget
that the blessings of God require boots on the ground, walking by faith to seize
the promises of God? For the gift to be received, we have to walk to get there in
order to grab the spiritual blessings of God!
Two, the gift was going to require courage (Jos 1:6, 7, 9). It wasn’t
going to be a cakewalk for the Israelites on the other side of the river but a
dangerous enterprise of faith. As with any war, there will be collateral damage
and casualties. How often do we forget that we are engaged in a spiritual warfare
that will never see a declaration of peace this side of eternity against
angelic and human foes? How often do we forget the promise of His presence (Heb
13:5) in the daily routines of life? However, victory was assured because of
the promise of God’s very presence in the struggle (Jos 1:5).
Though the promise
of His presence brings comfort and resolve, God still demands courage from us
to undertake the task of making footprints of faith for His glory. But this courage
is not rooted in our own strength but in all that His presence represents. How often do we confront our own cowardice in
forgetting the promise of His presence, desiring to high tail it out of wherever
He is leading us because of the feeling of abandonment and the daunting obstacles
or abrasive nature of the circumstances? It takes courage to live by faith in a
hostile world to Christianity, but His presence is guaranteed in the adventure.
Three, the gift was going to require complete
obedience to the Word of God (Jos 1:7). How
often do we forget that success in God’s eyes is linked to whole-hearted obedience to His Word, not some mere
acknowledgment of His Word but a submission to the authority of His Word? How often do we forget that only the
submitted and committed to God’s Word possess the courage to observe it in the
fray of battle to live for Him?
Once our heart departs from directing our thought
life in the Word of God (Jos 1:8) to the vanities or emptiness of the world, no longer
are we observing to be and to do all that has been written, and failure and
defeat are imminent. There is a tsunami of apostasy or turning away from God’s
truth sweeping over our land today; ECO still creates the best environment for any
believer regardless of the situation, but how often do we forget what is true success
or prosperity according to Yahweh? Are you an ECO-friendly believer? <><
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