Words of Encouragement Joshua 22:5

But 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 all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul."                              Joshua 22:5


Joshua was condensing the original message that Moses gave the people in Deuteronomy.  Far too many people think that being a Christian is being bound in by a set of rules.  The Lord knew that we needed boundary because we are a sinful people, so he gave the people the the Old Testament law, which was to guide the people in their ways.  The law has changed some since the days of Joshua but much of it still remains intact.  The place where people miss the truth of the bible is they see the laws as something they are forced to do, and so they obey out of fear or obligation.  Both Joshua and Moses made it very clear that God's people should obey out of love.  The Isrealites felt that their obligations had been completed but they were reminded of their spiritual obligations to the lord.  Sometimes we think too much about what we have to do and we forget who we need to be. If we know that we are a child of the Lord we must serve and give out of the right spirit out of Love for the Lord.  Otherwise the Lord will say that our works mean nothing to him.

Sometimes obedience and service to the Lord is not fun and it is not easy, but do we obey and serve? and if we do is our heart right?