As a believer in Jesus, you learn to walk in His ways. You grow into His likeness and become His disciple. Life between you and God is good, until….
You slip into something more comfortable.
To explain myself, let’s look at the book of Joshua. In chapter 23, you learn of how faithful God was toward His people, the Israelites. The Lord had led them out of slavery in Egypt into the promised land He told them about. You could say that God fulfilled His side of the bargain by providing for them and allowing them to see first hand that He keeps His promises!
Joshua was an old man now and it was time for him to remind the leaders of what God has done and to be careful of slipping into more comfortable things. Moses prepared Joshua before his death, and Joshua was preparing the next leadership team to continue living out God’s plan. Joshua reminded them of all that they had seen God do for them. They saw God fight for them against their enemies, and they are now living in the land God promised them. They witnessed answered prayers! Joshua emphasized, “Cling tightly to the Lord your God as you have done until now.”8
Joshua had to say this to God’s people. They were prone to doing the unthinkable. Often after spiritual victories, believers will look around and allow themselves to slip into something more comfortable, like “little g” gods. They put God on the back burner and enjoyed worldly pleasures more.
He reminded them to be very careful to follow God’s Word. “Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left.”6 Every believer is called to stay the course, to endure to the end; see Matthew 24:12-13. Joshua also reminded them to keep God first in their lives. They were not to associate with others who remained in the land. They were not followers of God. When you hang out with worldly people, you slip into their comfortable ways and end up serving or worshiping them.
Joshua reminds them to love God carefully; see verse 11.
In verse 12, Joshua gives a “but”, which is an indicator that it will be easy to slip into something more comfortable. Every believer must stay alert to the ways of the world that are easy to cling to. Joshua says that they may be prone to intermarrying with carnal people. You cannot mix both worlds. God sent His Son to help you escape one world to save you to another world that is eternal.
Joshua reveals a reality statement for every believer in verse 14, “Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed!” Can you think of a time in your life where God has not been there for you?
2 Timothy 2:13 ESV “If we are faithless, He remains faithful for He cannot deny Himself.”
How can realizing God’s faithfulness help you to stay in battle gear and not slip into something comfy? Joshua shares what God does to those who turn away from Him. God will no longer free you from your enemies. They will remain around you like a snare to trap you, and then God will remove you from the land that He graciously gave you. You will quickly vanish.
Read John 15:1-17 and study a clearer explanation of what Joshua is saying to the Israelites. The same is true for us today. “Anyone who does not remain in Me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.”6
God will fulfill His side of the bargain, and He desires for you to keep your side intact. Learn from the Israelites as well as every disciple from the New Testament, God has a plan and it requires a surrendering of your heart, soul, and mind towards Jesus. Trust and obey for there is no other way. Now is not the time to slip into something comfortable that could destroy your faith. Keep God first and let Him lead you day by day.
