As I sit here reading in the book of Joshua, I can’t help but think about the similarities between my walk with Christ and the Israelite’s. Let me explain my logic here.
Since Exodus when we see Moses deliver the Isrealite’s from Egypt and into the Promised Land, we get to watch them go through this never ending cycle of sin & redemption. It’s a constant struggle for them to behave themselves and follow what God is telling them to do. How many times did they stray from the laws and commandments that God set forth on Mount Sinai? ALOT. And how many times did Moses and Joshua plead for God’s forgiveness for the Isrealite’s? Also ALOT. In Joshua 24:16-24, I can almost see Joshua’s frustration with the Isrealite’s as they are professing that they are going to worship God; and only God AGAIN. I can feel his lack of trust in these people when time and time again, they have come up short. In Verse 19, it reads” Then Joshua told the people: “You CAN’T do it; you’re not able to worship God. He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He won’t put up with your fooling around and sinning.” In Joshua’s mind, talk is cheap. It’s easy to talk the talk but way more difficult to actually walk the walk. So you are probably saying to yourself, where in the world does this relate to your own walk, Kelly??
Here’s your answer… Drum Roll please!!!
In my life, I have professed countless times that I am going to walk with the Lord and do right by him. I tell myself I am going to be the perfect, God fearing Christian. And what happens? I fall short just like the Isrealites. I sin. I don’t keep my promises to him. I worship false Gods. I stray from the path that God has set out for me. Then I come back to him and say “OK God, this time it’s gonna be different. I’m going to do all the things I said. I’m going to walk with you again”. I know that God forgives me when I stray but I also believe he is thinking like Joshua did. In his mind, talk is cheap. I can say all of these things over and over again. But do I really walk the life that I speak about? In the past, my honest answer would have been NO. Now, I know my answer is that I try to. Every day, I try. I wake up and reaffirm to God that I am going to do my best to walk on the path that he has laid forth. I pray that he stay by my side. I ask that he show me how I can be his hands and his feet. I try to remember to go to him for everything I need. Do I still falter?? Absolutely. Do I struggle to stay on the path?? Heck yes. But the beauty of it all is that his grace is infinite. I am a redeemed child in his eyes and therefore get to experience the graciousness of our heavenly father. I know that everyday that I choose to walk the life he dreamed for me, that we are growing deeper together as father and daughter. As my faith is slowly restored in Him each day, his faith in me is gaining strength. The day he called me to the World Race, I couldn’t help but think to myself over and over again “Why did he choose me?”. I mean come on! There had to be way better Christians out there who knew more about the Bible, whose lives represented Christ better than mine, and who had a stronger foundation in their faith. But for some reason, he chose me. So with mild hesitation, I told him Yes. Am I mentally, physically, spiritually, & emotionally qualified to go into a year of missions? NO. Am I going to follow his calling for me and learn to live more Christlike each day? YES. It’s an unqualified YES.
As fellow Christians, you must choose to do the same. Every day, you have to choose to wake up and say yes to God. You have to choose to represent Christ through your actions. You must choose to follow his path. You must choose to answer a calling when you don’t understand why. We cannot be a bunch of people who talk the talk yet our actions never line up with our words. The motto “Actions speak louder than words” needs to be our tagline as a community. We must go out into the world and spread God’s love through our actions not just our words. So I challenge each of you who reads this to wake up tomorrow, give God an unqualified YES, and think of something that YOU CAN DO to spread the eternal love of Jesus just a bit further than it was today.
