Deeper Life #104

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.

—Joshua 1:9

EVERY RELIGION, EXCEPT CHRISTIANITY, REVERES the past. Christianity alone makes the best in the past seem poor, compared to the present—and the present seem poor, compared with what is yet to be.

When God announced to Joshua the death of His great servant Moses, did He announce plans for a memorial? Did He instruct Joshua to write a book of remembrance of Moses? No! God told Joshua, “Now therefore arise, go!” (Joshua 1:2). Moses was a mighty man of God; but a living babe is of more use in God’s plans than a dead Moses.

For the saint of God there is no time as good as the present, unless it be the future. Even the splendid cry, “Back to the Bible,” is not a call to return to the past; it springs from our need to return to the source of the mighty ocean of God’s grand ideas for you and me.

Beware of people who worship reminiscences of the “good old times.” Those who indulge in sentimentality do not savor the things of God. Every period of time in the Bible was better than the preceding age; and Christians know that the best is yet to be.

Prayer Thought: O God, lead and guide as You did Your servants Moses and Joshua.

SUGGESTED READING: Joshua 1:1–9