I LOVE to study the Bible!! It's like going on a treasure hunt . . . except that it's not over when you find the treasure. :0) There are thousands upon thousands of more treasures waiting to be found! And so, I'd like to share with you the "treasure" I found this morning. :0)
In Joshua 22, the Israelites had just conquered the promise land and "taken" all that God "had given" to them. The men of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh are ready to cross back over the Jordan River and join their wives and children. Joshua calls them all together and gives them some instruction, of which verse 5 is a part:
But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law
which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you,
to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all His ways,
and to keep His commandments, and to cleave unto Him,
and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Wow! There's a lot in that verse! To "heed" is a command, and the phrase "take diligent heed" could have been translated to "exceedingly be on one's guard". For what?? To do the commandment and law of the LORD. I really like the picture there . . . . I am to be on "extreme alert" against anything that would keep me from doing the command and law of the LORD.
The rest of the verse tells us what the command and law is that we are to do . . . .
- to love the LORD your God
- to walk in all His ways
- to keep His commandments
- to cleave unto Him
- to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul
Much could be said about each of those points, but I'll refrain. ;0) Each of those points indicate something that I am to actively be doing. My favorite word in the list is "cleave". What does it mean to cleave unto the Lord? The word "cleave" means "to cling to, join with, or stay with" . . . . but my favorite part about this word is the picture we get in Job 41:15-17. There it tells us about the scales of leviathan. They are so close to each other that no air can come between them, and they are joined (that's the word for cleave) one to another, stuck together such that they cannot be separated. WOW!!! Oh may that be my Lord and I!
If you were to really study each of the five points listed, I think you would find that in truly keeping just one of them, you would be keeping all of them. For example, what does it mean to serve the Lord with ALL your heart and ALL your soul? . . . . Zodhiates says that the word "serve" does not have connotations of toilsome labor, but instead, of a joyful experience of liberation. Oh how true it is that when our heart and soul belong completely to the Lord (our focus is completely and always on Him), it is then that we find real liberty and freedom. :0)
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