It was 47 years ago today that my only brother suddenly died with a heart attack at age 41. This is a reminder to all of us that our times are in God’s hands for only He knows the number of our days. As we look back upon this year and upon our past, we remember the events and we recall the twists and the turns that were involved in the shaping of our lives. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace is apt to be checked by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them in order to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual blessing for the future as the Lord goes before us as He takes us from where we are to bring us to where He wants us to be—to trust an unknown future into the hands of an all-knowing God.
Let’s draw from scripture to glean insights from the Israelites as they prepared to travel into the Promised Land in the Book of Joshua. It was time for them to move forward. The Lord had safely brought His people up out of the land of Egypt. The unbelieving previous generation completed their 40 years of wandering in the desert and a new generation is readied to enter the Promised Land. The spies had returned from Jericho with an evil report except for Joshua and Caleb who reported that the people of Canaan were fainting for fear because of the Israelites. Now, under the leadership of Joshua the people were preparing to take possession of the Promised Land. The LORD’S people were preparing to take their first steps along a new pathway; a way that they had not gone before.
In Joshua 1: 5-6 and 9 the Lord encouraged Joshua with these words: “I will be with you; I will not fail you, nor forsake you; be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or dismayed for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” In verses 7-8 the LORD gave Joshua the keys to success in the journey: (1) Follow God’s commandments (2) Keep your eyes on the LORD and do not be distracted turning to the right or to the left. (3) Speak God’s Word, meditate on it day and night and let it govern your life. The LORD would go ahead of them and then they were to follow Him because they did not know the way. The LORD graciously leads His people because He does know the way.
Now, let’s look at Chapter 3 as the Israelites draw near to the Jordan in preparation of crossing over into the Promised Land. The Ark of the Covenant was a symbol of God’s Presence and the priests of the Levites were to carry it a 1000 yards ahead of the people. Verse 4 is a source of comfort as the LORD goes before: “That you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before.” Filled with the assurance of God’s presence and anointing, Joshua spoke words of encouragement to the people in verses 9-10: “Come hear the words of the LORD your God and hereby know that the living God is among you and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and Amorites and the Jebusites.” These were the giants and the people who were the enemies of God. We read about the deliverance of the LORD in Joshua 24: 11-13 as He said: “I delivered them into your hand.” Joshua rallied the people with the words of verses 14-15: “Fear the LORD; serve Him in sincerity and in truth; put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt or the gods of the Amorites; choose this day whom you will serve BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.
Psalm 119: 89-90 says: “Forever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations; thou has established the earth, and it abideth.” 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 says: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” So what truths would God have us to learn from these passages as we enter into 2023? (1) We are not without a Leader. We have a Captain and a Guide who not only knows the way, but in fact is with us and goes ahead of us, having ordained all of our steps. (2) Read God’s Word, speak God’s Word, meditate on God’s Word, believe God’s Word, obey God’s Word. (3) Be strong in the LORD and the power of His might by putting on the whole armor of God each day that we can be courageous and free from fear or dismay. God is able to bring victory over all the giants and enemies that are ahead and can use for good what Satan means for evil in our lives. (4) God is real, God has a Plan, God is in control and God loves us. God knows every event that will unfold in our lives and He promises that His grace will be sufficient for us. The pathway is new to us but also, at the beginning of this New Year, we should realize that God knows the way. Because of our God, we can look ahead to 2023 with confidence as we follow the LORD unswervingly. When we follow humbly and faithfully, then we can be assured that it will indeed be a Happy New Year! Let us stand with Joshua and declare “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”! God desires to set us free in 2023 from all that would enslave us to the flesh and the god of this world and its world system! The Truth will set us free as Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life!