Instructions

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Joshua 22:5 says, “But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

      Teachers are sovereign in their classes.  What they say in their instructions is what they expect from every student.  They can also be different even in the same school.  I had one professor that didn’t not give a midterm or final exam.  He would ask three questions at the beginning of each class.  When the roll call came around, you put the number right next to your name.  I was getting  2 out 3 so thought I was doing okay until I realized that 66 percent was a D minus grade.  I then had to be sure I got all questions correct unti the end of the course.

     The book of Joshua is wrapping things up as the Israelites get their allotment of territory in which to settle and they are given some final instructions in order to keep living peacefully in the land.  The above passage describes the characteristics needed for every Israelite.  If you were to look ahead into the book of Judges, you will see that it didn’t happen and even gets worse when both the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah eventually fall and go into captivity.  We also learn that the Old Testament has been preserved for us that we might learn.  We learn how we are to please God in all ages, not just in the founding of the nation of israel which also includes today.  The Lord Jesus Christ reminded us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our spirit and with all our strength.  Nothing has changed.  That  statement is especially true in reference to God and in reference to His Word.  Is this something that we naturally do from day to day?  In most cases it is not the way we live.  Our relationship with God is often pushed aside by the cares of the world and the world system itself.  There is that expression, “Out of sight, out of mind.”  Is God out of sight?  He may be to some but even Fanny Crosby wrote of “visions of rapture” and she was physically blind!  Everything in the universe is a testimony of God so He is not out of sight.  My Father could go to work on a snowy day and his footprints would remain there all day and I could stretch out my legs and walk in them.  All we need to do is to look around us and notice the footprints of God all around us.  The result will be more praise to Him for all that He has done.  In closing today, remember to love the Lord with all our heart, our soul, our strength and mind.