Speaking the Word

Joshua 1:1-9, 16-18

¹After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, ²‘My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. ³Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. ⁴From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. ⁵No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. ⁶Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. ⁷Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. ⁹I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’

¹⁶ They [the people] answered Joshua: ‘All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses! ¹⁸Whoever rebels against your orders and disobeys your words, whatever you command, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.’

After God repeats this command (“Be strong and courageous”) to Joshua multiple times, Joshua even hears it from the people of Israel that he is leading. As their newly established leader, they commit to following him as they did Moses, and giving him their blessing. They speak the very same words that the LORD spoke to Joshua—“Only be strong and courageous.” Joshua’s community, Israel, affirms the Word of the LORD in Joshua’s life.

Within our communities, we need to be always speaking the Word of God into each others’ lives, and affirming the call of God that we see in each other. Our lives are to be the proclamation of the Word made flesh not only to the world around us, but to each other. With the authority of the Holy Spirit, the Author of the Word, within us, speak the truth of God into the lives of those around you. Encourage, affirm, rebuke, challenge, and build each other up, “so that your words may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”         (1 Peter 4:10-11)