In our age, there are many misunderstandings surrounding the Christian life. A trip to the local Bible bookstore bears this out. The shelves are lined with books that claim to be able to teach us how to make the Christian life easier for the believer and the church more acceptable to the world. The truth of the matter is that there is nothing easy or acceptable about the Christian life. It is not always easy to live for Jesus. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will never be acceptable to the world. We are not out for a day in the park! We are not on a playground; we are on a battleground!
1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying,
2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest.
8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
We are engaged in warfare with a spiritual enemy who is far more powerful than we are, Eph. 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
In our own strength, we cannot defeat our enemies! The good new is this: our enemies are nowhere near as powerful as our God. 1 John 4:4b, “…because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
Thus, even in the midst of our battles, there is always hope for victory. Rom. 8:31, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Rom. 8:37, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
In fact, the Bible tells us that we are the recipients of victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15:57, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” While we are engaged in the battle with evil, there is the expectation that we can and will walk in victory in our lives. For me, this is what the book of Joshua represents.