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Where Are You Going?
“So Joshua sent the people away, everyone to his inheritance.” – Joshua 24:28
As we come to the beginning of a new calendar, it’s natural to take stock of where we’ve been and where we’re going. Ask yourself: where am I going? What’s my “inheritance”?
The Holy Cross Tuesday morning women’s Bible study just completed a study of the Book of Joshua. We learned how the Lord prepared Joshua to lead Israel into the Promised Land after Moses’ death. God instructed Joshua to “…be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9b) We saw that Joshua succeeded because he trusted God’s Holy Word.
And Joshua continually emphasizes that the Lord gave them their land as an “inheritance” according to God’s promise. This theme begins in the very first chapter – “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.” (Joshua 1:6) The inheritance theme continues to the very last chapter: “So Joshua sent the people away, everyone to his inheritance. After these things Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. And they buried him in his own inheritance.…” (Joshua 24:28-30a) Our Lord always fulfills His Word and grants success according to His purpose and timing (not ours).
Just as the name Joshua (or Yeshua in Hebrew) points forward to a later and greater leader of God’s people, Jesus (also Yeshua in Hebrew), the same Jesus gives us a decisive victory – over death itself – in His resurrection. Through Jesus Christ, we are led safely through the “Jordan River” of our Baptism to our inheritance – our Promised Land of salvation and eternal life.
So, as we face this new year together in Christ, let’s listen to God’s encouragement: “…be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
~Pastor Nickel
