Be Careful
Towards the end of the Book of Joshua in chapter 22, Joshua calls together some of the tribes of Israel who have done their job. They completed the work they were supposed to do in the season. And so he says to them, “Well done, you've carried out your mission.”
And then he gives them some very practical advice. And as I read this verse not so long ago, I thought, this is a wonderful verse to show us how to live today. In Joshua 22:5 he says to them, “Be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Embracing Diligent Living: Ancient Wisdom for Today
That's a really great verse to underline what the life of faith is all about. And so let's look at it this week, starting with those opening words that Joshua said, “Be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses gave you.”
Be very careful. If you look at the old translation, the King James, it says, “take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law.” And so he was saying to them, “Be diligent, be disciplined, carefully do what you're supposed to do. Don't just glide your way through life, but make sure that you're doing what God is calling you to do.”
I think this call to careful living is very much pertinent today, just as it was those thousands of years ago. We live in a world where it's so easy to get up and go and do whatever we feel is right. But if we look at the history of God's people, and especially in the Bible, we see careful living. We see people wanting so to honour God that they shape their lives carefully!
In fact, Paul in the New Testament also said something similar in Ephesians 5:15-16 he said to them, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 1making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”
Living Mindfully: Honoring God in Everyday Moments
Maybe this is a moment for us to take stock. Are our lives carefully patterned after the rules of God? Are our lives carefully shaped to honor God and to connect with Him? Do we carefully plan our days so that there is much room for the Spirit to move and there is much closeness with God in all we do?
What I've noticed in my life is if I'm not careful, if I'm slack and just cruise into my day, very quickly the enemy distracts me. Other things get in the way and I get to the end of the day and I've lived as if God wasn't there. Even though I believe in him and haven't done anything necessarily bad, I just have lacked that intimacy. But if I'm careful to do things God's way, I stay close to Him.
My pray for us this week is that we live it carefully, carefully reading God's Word and applying it into our daily lives so that we can make the most of every opportunity God gives us.
