Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
Choices! The human journey is filled with choices, every day, no matter who you are, what your age, what languages you speak, what your skin color is or where you live in this world. Every day you and I and every person alive make choices and those choices write the story of our lives, isn’t that true? Therefore, wherever you are in life right now is the sum of the choices you’ve made in your life up to this point. Now, think about that a moment!
We’re on a 30-day journey toward Christmas and with 2 weeks remaining today I’d like us to look at a man whose life pointed forward to Christmas about 1400 years before Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem. His name is Joshua. Did you know that name is the Old Testament version of the name Jesus? YESHUA. That name means Savior, Deliverer, Rescuer and Joshua, you may recall, was chosen by God to lead the Hebrew people from the desert into the Promised Land after Moses died. Why was Joshua chosen? That’s a good question, but as I look at his life it seems to me God was preparing him from a young age to be the leader of His people at this very strategic moment in their history.
Several times through the story of Moses leading these Hebrew slaves in their journey with God, we find Joshua is at Moses’ side as his aide. Joshua hiked up Mount Sinai with Moses to meet with God. (Ex. 24:13) Joshua was at Moses’ side when the people rebelled and built a golden calf as their god. (Ex. 32:) Joshua frequented the little “tent of meeting” with Moses to meet with God. (Ex. 33:11) And as Moses neared the end of his life, Joshua was selected by God to carry on as God’s spokesman to and the leader of the Hebrews as they prepared to leave the desert and enter the promised land. (Joshua 27:15-23) I believe Joshua may have been standing at Moses’ side when Moses issued one of his final farewell message challenges to the people: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to His voice, hold fast to Him, for the LORD is your life…” (Deut. 30:19,20) Do you hear the importance of making wise choices in life because our children and grandchildren live in the shadow of our choices? Joshua had learned how vital it is to follow God’s lead in making important life choices.
Like Moses, Joshua received a clarion call from God which gave to Joshua his life purpose: “The LORD said to Joshua, Moses My servant is dead. Now then you and all these people get ready to cross the Jordan river into the land I am about to give to you… As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous. Be careful to obey all the law My servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go…” (Joshua 1:1-9) Do you hear the importance of following God’s lead in making daily life choices?
For the rest of Joshua’s life, what he had learned from Moses motivated him to seek the same authentic, dynamic, powerful relationship with God which Moses had.
As Joshua led the people across that flooded Jordan, in a miracle very similar to God opening the Red Sea, Joshua experienced the same certainty of God’s guiding Presence with him which Moses had lived. But unlike Moses, the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day did not cross the Jordan with the people, nor was there a mount Sinai nearby for Joshua to climb frequently to meet with God.
Joshua had to develop his own, unique relationship with God while carrying the same responsibility of being God’s spokesman to the people and the leader who would lead the people in following God’s guidance, even into all the battles which delivered the promised into the hands of the Israelites.
Do you see that it’s the same for you and me, my friends? We each need to develop our own, unique, vibrant relationship with God and that includes learning how to make wise choices… big and small, every day. Making the right choices, led by God, that was the theme of Joshua’s life as he led the next generation of Hebrews in conquering and possessing the promised land. So, have you learned that lesson my friends? Does the life story of your choices reflect that?
I wonder if you see how Joshua’s life pointed forward to Christmas. From Gabriel’s first visit to Zechariah in the temple the people of the Christmas story faced choices. Believe God and His Christmas plan or not. Follow, participate with God and His Christmas plan or not. Invite others to join in God’s Christmas plan or not. It’s true of Zechariah and Elizabeth, of Joseph and Mary, of King Herod and the shepherds and the wise men. Each and all of them, in the most famous story of all time, the Christmas story, had choices, some of them many choices… and their choice determined their experience with God’s Christmas story!
You know the Biblical Christmas story well, don’t you? What if Mary or Joseph had refused God’s invitation for their involvement in His Christmas miracle? What if the Shepherds had simply ignored the angels in the sky? What if the wise men had concluded it was too far of a journey and they ignored the star?
As Joshua neared the end of his life, he first gathered the leaders of Israel together and challenged them “You have seen everything the LORD your God has done for your sake…be very strong and careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or left. You are to hold fast to the LORD as you have until now. But if you turn away from the LORD, then you may be sure the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. They will become snares and traps for you, whips on your back and thorns in your eyes until you perish from this good land your God has given you.” (Joshua 23) Joshua was absolutely right, and these leaders knew the future for Israel depended largely on their future choices. 
Shortly thereafter Joshua, then an old man, called all the people together with a similar challenge to stay the course with God in every detail. His challenge to them is summarized famously in this: “Now fear the LORD and serve Him with all faithfulness… But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14,15) Soon thereafter Joshua died with those haunting words challenging the choices of every generation which followed. Now do you see how Joshua’s life points us to Christmas. As people made the right choices they participated with God in the great miracle of Christmas. And as Jesus grew into manhood almost every day, He did the same thing… inviting people to choose a relationship with Him. Each disciple, when invited by Jesus to follow Him, could have said no! But they didn’t and their lives changed, and they became the apostles who took Jesus’ story and message to the world!
And do you remember Jesus Himself faced the great challenge of choice as in the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed with great passion asking His Father if there was any other way to redeem humanity yet yielding Himself to God’s plan: “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” (Matt. 26:42) Jesus made the choice to complete His God given mission of incarnation and atonement death, so you and I and every human being can be offered by God, the choice to be forgiven of their sin and enter into relationship with God or continue to live forever in sin bondage and spend eternity apart from God. Choices… oh the power of Choices!
Among the last things the resurrected Jesus said to His followers before leaving to return to heaven was this: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all I have commanded you. And I will be with you always.” (Matt. 28:18-20) Do you hear how similar that is to both the farewell challenges of Moses and Joshua?
So, what about it friends? What life story does the long line of your choices tell us about what you believe in the Christmas story or what you believe about Jesus or what authority you give God’s Words in your life? Choices! Over these next 14 days what will be the evidence of your relationship with God that we see revealed in your choices? Here’s a song to help us consider this…
Today’s Scripture is Joshua 1:1-9.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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