Why obey God?
Joshua 23-24
At the risk of post length, I'll simply post the citation for the following thoughts from Joshua 23-24. The Israelites have finally made it to the Promised Land of Canaan, all the land has been allotted to each of the 12 Tribes of Israel and Joshua, after courageously leading the people through many military conquests, is giving them their final charge before he passes on into Glory.
What was the charge?
In short, "cling to the Lord your God..." (Josh. 23:8)
It was preached to the people a myriad of times and reiterated here, 'Obey the Lord and you will receive the promised blessings; disobey Him and you will receive the promised curses.'
The next logical question then would be, what's the true motivation here to obey God? Was it simply out of fear of impending curses? Or was it something more that should drive God's people to worship and obey Him? Verse 9 gives us more insight: "For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day..." and verse 14 states, "...you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed."
The people were to obey the Lord, not simply out of fear of judgment, but moreso out of awe and reverence for the faithfulness of God. He had come through on every promise He had spoken to them. They had visible evidence of it. Therefore, because God is 100% faithful, His people should, in turn, be faithful to Him.
What can we take away from this Old Testament story today? God's faithfulness is all the motivation we need to obey and trust Him.
Easter is this Sunday. Why should we put our full faith and trust in Jesus for forgiveness and salvation? Because He is faithful to His Word. He rose back to life to defeat death for us just as He promised He would. He is faithful. And that's why we obey.
At the risk of post length, I'll simply post the citation for the following thoughts from Joshua 23-24. The Israelites have finally made it to the Promised Land of Canaan, all the land has been allotted to each of the 12 Tribes of Israel and Joshua, after courageously leading the people through many military conquests, is giving them their final charge before he passes on into Glory.
What was the charge?
In short, "cling to the Lord your God..." (Josh. 23:8)
It was preached to the people a myriad of times and reiterated here, 'Obey the Lord and you will receive the promised blessings; disobey Him and you will receive the promised curses.'
The next logical question then would be, what's the true motivation here to obey God? Was it simply out of fear of impending curses? Or was it something more that should drive God's people to worship and obey Him? Verse 9 gives us more insight: "For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day..." and verse 14 states, "...you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed."
The people were to obey the Lord, not simply out of fear of judgment, but moreso out of awe and reverence for the faithfulness of God. He had come through on every promise He had spoken to them. They had visible evidence of it. Therefore, because God is 100% faithful, His people should, in turn, be faithful to Him.
What can we take away from this Old Testament story today? God's faithfulness is all the motivation we need to obey and trust Him.
Easter is this Sunday. Why should we put our full faith and trust in Jesus for forgiveness and salvation? Because He is faithful to His Word. He rose back to life to defeat death for us just as He promised He would. He is faithful. And that's why we obey.
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