Joshua 23

And I'd like to invite you to turn back in the Bibles to Joshua chapter 23, which we read earlier, which you'll find on page 239.

Joshua 23 · chapter mention

239.

Famous last words have become something of an institution.

Sometimes they're tragic, sometimes they're humorous, sometimes a mixture of both, as in the case of General John Sedgwick,

who was apparently a Union commander in the American Civil War, and who was killed in battle in 1864,

and those who were with him recalled his famous last words as being,

they couldn't hit an elephant at that distance.

Apparently that is true.

Sometimes they're disparaging last words, like Karl Marx, who told his housekeeper, who was hovering at his bedside,

ready to write down his last words for posterity, that last words are for fools who haven't said enough.

But the last words, or the closing speeches of the Bible, have much more serious content and far deeper significance.

And if you think about it, there are lots of last words in the Bible.

The final speeches of Jacob, for example, blessing his twelve sons.

Moses, as he prepares the people to enter the Promised Land.

David, at the end of his long reign and life.

And especially, of course, the Lord Jesus himself.

His famous last words in John 13 to 17, what we often call the Upper Room Discourse.

They are all major features of Scripture.

And here we have Joshua's parting discourses.

In fact, at the end of the book of Joshua, there are three speeches that he makes.

Chapter 22, before our chapter, he says farewell to the two and a half tribes

who are going back across the Jordan to resettle in their allotted territories.

They've been helping with the conquest of Canaan.

They're now dispatched back home east of the Jordan.

And Joshua gives them parting words.

Chapter 24, after our chapter, the last chapter of the book,

is his address to the whole nation as he calls them to choose whom they're going to serve.

Whether it will be the Lord or other gods.

And that famous assertion of Joshua, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

And here in between, chapter 23, is a chapter that gives his last words to the leaders,

the people who are responsible for the government of the nation,

the elders, the leaders, the judges, and officials.

As Joshua passes on the baton, he says,

I'm old and well advanced in years.

We know later in the book that he died at the age of 110.

And so we're probably about 20, 25 years from the time when they first crossed the Jordan

to enter the land.

And you know the book of Joshua is all about the conquest of the land from the fall of Jericho

and they marched around it seven times and the walls fell flat,

right the way through to the allocation of all the territory that God gave them in the land of Canaan.

And this chapter, at the end, is both a looking back and a looking forward.

I think it's appropriate for January.

We're here on the second Sunday, but we're still at the beginning of a new year.

January named after Janus, the god of paganism, who looked back and looked forward, the two-faced god.

Well, it's a good thing at the beginning of a year, isn't it, to look back in thanksgiving

and to renew our faith and commitment as we look forward in hope to what God has for us.

So I hope this will be an appropriate message, both for this time of the year

and also for our own minds and hearts as we think about the faithfulness of God.

So in verse 1, we get the scene set.

That long time refers to the period of the conquest.

And if you read the book, you'll find some very exciting stories of how God gave the land to his people.

The key to it all is there in those opening verses.

Have a look with me at verse 3.

You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake.

It was the Lord your God who fought for you.

So this is the story of the book.

That God has been in control of a whole situation.

That he has led the people under Joshua to accomplish his plans and purposes.

But supremely, God has been fulfilling his promises all the way through the story.

And now Joshua, near the end of his life, is concerned that the people who will follow him

will be as committed to this God and to his word, as trusting in him as he has been,

and as prepared to launch out in faith to see God work in their generation as Joshua has seen it in his own.

Now, there's a progression in the chapter which I think divides into three sections.

Verses 3 to 8, 9 to 13, and 14 to 16.

And the reason I say that is because you'll see if you look with me at the opening verse of each section

that there's a similarity in the way in which Joshua approaches it.

So verse 3 talks about everything the Lord has done for you, how the Lord has fought for you.

Verse 8 talks about the Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations to this day.

And then verse 14, where Joshua talks about his own imminent departure.

But he says, you know that not one of all the good promises of the Lord your God has failed.

Every promise has been fulfilled.

Not one has failed.

Now, like many a good preacher after him, Joshua repeats his big idea three times.

In each of the paragraphs, this fantastic truth, this central assertion,

that everything that they are now experiencing, the lands that they have not themselves won,

but that God has given them as they've trusted him and experienced his power at work through them.

Everything that is theirs today is theirs because God has chosen them, God has promised,

and God has fulfilled his promises.

But he doesn't just repeat himself.

It begins by looking back, but as the speech goes on,

he becomes increasingly concerned about the present and about the future,

and particularly about warnings that he feels he needs to give

because it is as easy to lose the blessings as it has been to receive them by God's grace.

So I want to look at this Old Testament preacher's message to his generation.

And as we do that, I'm sure we'll find many parallels to us.

And as we see it coming to its fruition in the Lord Jesus,

we can find encouragement, yes, and challenge for the year that lies ahead of us.

Look with me firstly then at what I want to describe as what you have seen.

What you have seen.

That is verses 3 to 8.

And not surprisingly, at the end of this long and eventful life,

Joshua starts by looking back.

But he's not a nostalgia buff.

He's not looking back in self-indulgence.

He's not saying, oh, those were the days, weren't they?

What he's doing is reminding his audience of how dependent they are on God for everything that they have.

He calls upon the leaders to review their common experience of God's goodness,

to remember what God has done,

and the immense changes that they've witnessed in their lifetime,

and the daily benefits that they receive from the hands of the Lord.

Now that is always a sound spiritual instinct.

Not to forget all his benefits and blessings.

And as we start a new year, we should look back with thanksgiving.

We've been doing that in our worship this morning.

As we praise God for his faithfulness to us,

for the way in which he's led us,

some of us through particularly difficult circumstances in recent days,

some of us in particularly joyful ways.

We've all got a variety of experience,

but at the heart of it all,

there is the faithfulness of God to his word and to his promises.

And as we review that, and do not forget his benefits,

as we give thanks,

and discipline ourselves in our own personal times of devotion,

to recall the blessings of God,

that will generate our faith for the future.

We look back and see that all the blessings we now enjoy

have been God's gracious gift to us.

And that makes us realise how dependent we are on him

for every day of this new year,

every day of our lives,

for every breath that we breathe.

That's why the New Testament is always concerned

that godly people are thankful people.

You can tell how, in a sense,

what your spiritual health is like

in terms of how thankful you are to God.

How thankful you are that God is God.

That this is his character.

That he is faithful to all his promises,

that he is always carrying out

what he commits himself to do.

Thankful too for the circumstances of our lives,

for the overruling providence

by which he guides us and directs us

and opens doors for us and shuts other doors,

keeps us from dangers,

directs us in the way,

as every day we commit our way to him.

And we pray,

Lord,

today I want to submit myself

to your authority,

to your lordship.

There will be many, many things

that we can thank God for,

supremely,

that he sent his son,

the Lord Jesus,

to die on that cross in our place.

And that we have access

into his presence this morning.

We've been able to pray.

We know our sins have been forgiven.

We know that we go out

with the Holy Spirit within us

to change us from the inside out.

These are the great blessings

of being a Christian.

Be a thankful Christian.

And it's never too early to start.

I worked with a man called Lee Samuel,

who some of you may know

in my early years in ministry.

And Lee Samuel used to say

to his congregation,

if you want to be a gracious old lady,

be a gracious young lady.

And if you want to be a faithful old man,

be a faithful young man.

In other words,

you build every day of your life

a character,

an attitude.

You become who you are

because of practice.

And we can practice being faithful,

thankful,

rejoicing people

in all that the Lord has given us.

Now, in this context,

Joshua draws special attention

to what he calls the nations.

Back in verse 3,

you yourselves have seen

everything the Lord your God

has done to all these nations.

It's really a technical term

for anyone,

any nation,

that is outside the covenant

of God's grace.

And that means every nation

except Israel at this point

in Old Testament history.

Seven times in this chapter,

he refers to the nations.

Now, they have been,

of course,

opposing what God has been doing

in giving the land

to his people.

And many of those nations

have fought tooth and nail

against the conquest.

But as verse 4 tells us,

remember how I have allotted

as an inheritance

for your tribes

all the land of the nations

that remain,

and these are the nations

that I conquered.

The I is Joshua speaking,

but speaking as the agent of God,

that I have conquered

between the Jordan

and the Mediterranean.

And the Lord your God himself

will drive them out

of your way.

So here is the great blessings

that God has given.

Again and again,

the book has shown us

that it's God

who has granted Israel victory

as he promised.

And already the land

has been divided up

and allotted to the tribes

and to the family units,

including those parts of the land

which are still

unconquered at this point.

But looking back

to what has been accomplished

is a tremendous stimulus

to go on believing

for the future.

There's no shortage

of ability with God.

He's the one

who has driven them out

and will drive them out.

He will push them on

before you

and you will take possession

of their land

as the Lord your God

promised you.

Now we're in a very

different position of course.

We're not driving out tribes

from another land

or anything like that.

But as the people of God,

in a world where there is

hostility against the word of God

and the purposes of God,

in a world where people

very often turn their backs

upon God

when things get hard

and difficult,

we need to remind ourselves

as we look back

on what we have seen

that there is no shortage

of ability with God.

His name is the Lord

and whenever you see the Lord

in capital letters

in the Old Testament,

it's the covenant name of God,

Yahweh, Jehovah,

the I am who I am,

the unchanging,

100% dependable,

ever faithful God.

And what he has done,

he will continue to do.

Now when we get to the second part

of the chapter,

that's what he's saying

in verse 9.

If you look down at verse 9,

the Lord has driven out before you

great and powerful nations.

To this day,

no one has been able to

withstand you.

One of you raps a thousand

because the Lord your God

fights for you

just as he promised.

See how he takes them

back to the power

that is God's power.

It's so easy for us,

isn't it,

to bring God down

to our level.

For us to have effectively

a pocket-sized God

whom we do sincerely believe in

but whom we feel

that the pressures

and the problems

and the anti-Christian forces

that are at work

all the way through our culture,

they're really too big.

Too big for us to deal with.

And we sometimes tend to think

too big for God to deal with.

And we need to remember

that the promises of God

are what dictate

the purposes of God.

That God is committed

to building his church.

That he is committed

to bringing

an innumerable company

of men and women

from every tribe

and kindred and nation

out of the darkness

into the marvellous light

of Christ.

I went to preach

in a church

not too far from here

in West London

a few years ago,

probably three or four years ago.

And I was interviewed

about the Cornhill training course

and I shared a little bit

about the numbers

of students that we had

and the variety

of backgrounds they came from,

different nationalities

and so on.

And at the end

a gentleman came up to me

and he said,

I'm really surprised

by what you said

in the interview this morning.

So I said,

why?

And he said,

well,

to think that young people

who are apparently

quite able

and who could be

earning a good living

in various ways

will be giving themselves

to train for Christian ministry

which is such a defeated

and out of date thing.

I'm just amazed

that you would have

anybody who wanted to do it.

So I said to him,

how long have you been

coming to this church?

Oh, about 20 years.

You see,

it's so easy,

isn't it,

to get down

into the way

that the world thinks

that Christianity

is finished,

that it's had it,

that there's no real way

in which it could ever

impact our culture

and to take our judgment

from BDC2

or Channel 4

or the Sunday papers

or whatever it is

and to think

that Christianity

really has gone,

its day is over.

But what the world

is governed by

is the promises of God.

the faithfulness of God

who is the creator.

And if you put

the promises of God

against the

admittedly huge challenges

of the present situation,

then you begin to see

when you look back

and as you see

what God has done

in the past

and indeed what God

has done in our lives,

that of all these promises,

not one has failed.

Can you think of a promise

of God that he's not

been faithful to?

Of course not.

He's delivered us

in the blessing

of our conversion

from the world

and the flesh

and the devil.

He's given us

the knowledge

of sins forgiven.

He enables us

to grow in grace

and in godliness

of character.

We're all testimonies

of God's rich resources

and covenant commitment

to us,

his people.

But you know,

no faith is strong

if it isn't a growing faith.

No virtue is safe

if it is not

an enthusiastic virtue.

None of us is secure

if we are not

totally dependent

on God's grace

and mercy.

what you have seen

teaches us

that the world

is governed

by the word of God.

And the word

is the active expression

of the will

and purpose of God

that he carries out

through his son

and in the power

of his spirit.

Second thing

that he says,

not what you have seen

but what you must understand.

Come back with me

to verse 7.

Here,

he is commanding

the people

to be strong

and careful

to obey

the Lord's word.

And then in verse 7,

do not associate

with these nations

that remain among you.

Don't invoke

the names

of their gods

or swear by them.

You must not serve them

or bow down to them.

But you're to hold fast

to the Lord your God.

Now here is the danger.

We could call it

complacency.

A good proportion

of the land

has been taken.

But there is still

very much more

to be possessed.

If that's going to happen,

Joshua knows

that it will require

razor sharp clarity,

trusting the promises,

and wonderfully

renewed energy

from God

if they are going

to pursue

his purposes

and take over

the whole land.

And what they've seen

is that God

fights for his people

when his people

are active

and obedient

in doing his will.

He didn't do it

all for them.

They had to have

an army.

They had to have

battles.

Sometimes there was

no battle like Jericho.

Other times there were

battles in which

they had to fight.

But all the energy

and dynamic

for the victories

that they experienced

belonged to the Lord.

and those qualities

are available

as his people

continue to fight

the good fight.

But the danger is

that they will settle

for a comfortable

level of compromise

that doesn't inquire,

doesn't really require

such discipline

or sacrifice

or commitment.

And then the process

of verse 7

will take over.

And they will

gradually merge

with the pagan

nations that

remain in the land

mixing with

those people

beginning to

listen to the

to what they're

told about their

gods.

Worshipping those

gods more and

more because

they're much less

demanding than the

God of Israel.

They're much more

easily influenced

than the God of

truth and

righteousness.

righteousness.

And so they're

much more attractive

as a religious

option because

you can control

them.

Of course we know

that they're

actually lifeless

lumps of wood

and stone,

artifacts made

by the hands

of men.

But they're very

attractive because

this sort of

God is in your

pocket.

And the real

God isn't.

And so the

danger is acute.

And verses 12

and 13 over the

page warn them

in some detail,

sorry it's at the

bottom of the page,

warn them in some

detail about the

outcome of these

things.

If you turn away,

verse 12,

and ally yourselves

with the survivors

of these nations

that remain among

you, and if you

intermarry with

them and associate

with them, then

you may be sure

that the Lord your

God will no longer

drive out these

nations before you.

Instead they will

become snares and

traps for you,

whips on your back

and thorns in your

eyes, until you

perish from this

good land which

the Lord your God

has given you.

See here is the

danger, that this

sort of complacency

will lead them to

compromise, that

they will in the

end be indistinguishable

from the people

whom they're supposed

to be replacing.

And if that

happens, then God

who owns the land

will take it away

from them and they

will be dispossessed

by the God who

first gave it to

them.

Now that is a

very powerful

warning, isn't it?

This is what we've

got to understand,

that there is no

blessing that God

gives us which,

if we are unwilling

to respond in faith

and obedience, if we

treat it lightly and

compromise with the

forces of godless

evil around us,

there is no blessing

which is secure in

itself unless we are

positively related to

God day by day.

Now of course the

work of God is an

eternal work, he

saves us by his

grace, he calls us

as his people, he

makes us his own.

But our experience

of the blessings of

God are dependent

upon that faith

connection with him

that trusts him

and obeys him in

all the varied

circumstances of

life.

And the big danger

is that they will

lose out on what

they could enjoy

because somehow

they become more

like the nations

around them than

like the separate

people of God

that he has called

them to become.

You really don't

need me to apply

that.

We see around us

all sorts of

idolatry.

The messages that

impact our lives

every day are that

life is found in

this or that,

anything other

than God of

miracles.

And yes, here we

are on Sunday

morning, rightly

rehearsing our

faith in God,

rightly giving

ourselves at the

beginning of another

week to an hour

or so by which our

lives are set in

shape with God

and by which we

are able to

govern and direct

our lives for the

coming days.

But you know that

as soon as we leave

here, and particularly

tomorrow at work

and at school and

at college and in

the hospital or

wherever it is we

are, those messages

of the nations

around us will

bombard us again

and again and

again.

They will tell us

that what you

really need is to

look like this or

to own that or to

have this experience

or to be that sort

of person.

And again and

again as the

world and the

flesh and the

devil impinge

upon us, our

danger is that we

become complacent in

the blessings we

have and then we

begin to compromise

and we begin to

just drift a little

here and a little

there and before

we know where we

are, we are really

not very distinguishable

from the world

around us.

Idolatry is

powerful because it

is something we

think we can

control.

It's much easier

to follow the

idols of my heart

than to submit

that heart to the

true and living

God.

He will make

demands of me.

He will acquire

holiness in my

life.

He will not want

me to be making

those compromises.

And in his

mercy and his

love he cares

for us enough

not to let us

get away with

it.

So what Joshua

is saying to

these people is

true for all

covenant people in

the new as well

as in the old

covenant.

That while all

the blessings that

we enjoy are out

of God's pure

grace and because

of his mercy and

love to us and

he is an

everlasting father

and a God of

covenant mercy who

will never let us

go and never let

us down.

Nevertheless we

are not to be

complacent about

that.

If we want to

experience that in

our lives then we

must look out for

the tendency to

compromise.

We must look out

at those areas where

we are becoming much

more like the world

than like the Lord

Jesus.

And we must in our

need cling to him

and ask him for his

grace and help to

enable us to think

straight and then to

live straight in our

generation as the

people of the

living God.

The last thing that

he says is really

that, the future,

how you must live.

What you've seen,

everything you have

is God's good

gift to you and

that is true for us

in Christ and in the

gospel.

What you must

understand is that

God will never turn

his back upon his

promises.

But we can live as

it were out of sync

with God.

We can be Christians

who are Christian in

name but in

practice.

we're not actually

allowing God to

change us.

We're too easily

slipping into the

way that the world

reacts.

So what is the

counteractive to that?

The third thing he

tells us is how you

must live.

What you've seen,

what you must

understand, how you

must live.

And I'm thankful

that this practical

instruction is so

clear and applicable

to us.

Just have a look

with me at verse

six.

Be very strong,

be careful to

obey all that is

written in the book

of the Lord Moses

without turning aside

to the right or to

the left.

Now if you know

your Joshua, you'll

know that that's what

he was told in

chapter one, right at

the beginning of the

book.

To follow wholeheartedly

all that God had

revealed through

Moses in the first

five books of the

Bible.

The seedbed of the

whole Bible.

The context there

was the question as

to whether Joshua

would prove to be

a worthy leader

of Israel, a worthy

successor to Moses.

And now as his

wonderfully fruitful

and successful life

is reviewed at the

end, this could

really be a summary

of it all.

Indeed, when we

come to the very

last chapter, 24

and verse 29, we

find that the last

thing that we're

told about Joshua

is that he died

110 years old

as the servant

of the Lord.

That's his official

obituary, if you

like.

It's exactly the same

language as was used

of Moses.

Moses died, never

saw the promised land,

but he was taken by

God into his presence

as the servant of

the Lord.

And now Joshua, the

next generation, is

similarly given that

accolade.

He is the servant

of the Lord.

Because verse 6 has

been the motto of

his life.

Strength lies in

obedience to the

word of God,

without deviation.

The word of Jesus

given to us in the

New Testament, all

the instructions he

gave to his

disciples, all that

his spirit inspired

the apostles to

write as instructions

for our lives in

the epistles.

This is what leads

to the separation

from idolatry, which

will give to us a

Christian life that

is pleasing to God

and satisfying to

us.

Because only the

word of God can

break the hold of

the idols of our

hearts.

By revealing the

false and stimulating

the true, by

leading us to

trust God and then

to obey him because

we trust him, the

way to conquer our

idols, the way to

live lives that

count for God in

our generation, is

daily disciplined

obedience to the

word of God in

scripture.

If we trust him, we

will obey him.

If we don't obey

him, it's because we

don't really trust

him.

So we need to keep

those channels open,

the channels that

say, yes, I do

believe your word,

Lord, I know that

it's good and

perfect.

I know that my

sinful heart takes

me away from it so

often and I fail you

so frequently, but

today I'm coming

back to you and

asking you that that

living, enduring

word of God will

shape my thinking,

shape my living,

direct my actions.

And it's as the

word of God, in

all the scriptures

and supremely in

the living word, the

word made fresh, the

Lord Jesus rules in

our minds and

hearts, that we are

people who are

useful in God's

hands.

So that's the first

thing, how you must

live, you must allow

every word of God, he

says to his hearers, to

shape your responses.

But then it's more

than that, verse 8.

But you are to cling to

or hold fast to the

Lord your God as you

have until now.

That word cling is a

very strong adhesive

verb.

It's the Hebrew word

for glue really.

You are to be glued to

God, he says.

It was used of the

husband cleaving to

his wife and the two

become one flesh.

Now it speaks then of

a total commitment,

loyal devotion,

deep affection.

It's a verb that was

used in metal work of

two metals being

soldered together so

that they cannot be

separated.

Now he says that's

what your reaction to

God is to be like.

That is what the

Lord looks for from

his people.

To give ourselves to

him.

To cling to him.

And the very poignant

thing is that the

verb is used again in

verse 12.

Where it says if you

turn away and ally

yourselves.

Now that is exactly the

same verb as

translated in verse 8

as hold fast.

Exactly the same

verse.

If you turn away and

cling to the

survivors of the

nations.

Stick to them.

It's a really shocking

thought that isn't it?

That God's redeemed

people could go back

to paganism and be no

different from the

culture all around

them.

It's an almost

unthinkable idea and

yet which of us

doesn't know how

easily that drift can

happen in our lives.

So you've got to

remain stuck to God.

It's true in our

marriages.

Good marriages don't

just develop.

They need investment,

time, love, thought,

speech, actions.

They require commitment.

And true knowledge of

God doesn't just

happen.

You've got to invest

your time in it.

You've got to give

yourself to his word.

You've got to spend

time in his presence,

in prayer.

And as we cling to

the Lord, then those

things that would be

snares and traps and

whips and thorns in our

experience because we're

tempted to compromise,

will be removed as we

grow in our knowledge

and love of him.

No, don't cling to the

nations.

Don't get stuck to the

culture.

Cling to the Lord your

God.

Be very careful to obey.

You are to hold fast to

the Lord.

And lastly, perhaps the

greatest verse in the

whole chapter, verse 11.

So be very careful to

love the Lord your God.

See, that is the secret

of the baton being

passed in the next

generation.

Notice how intentional

it is.

Be very careful to love

the Lord your God.

Give your attention to

it, he says.

Make this the heart of

your living and your

discipleship.

Love the Lord your God.

We know elsewhere in

the Old Testament and

endorsed by the Lord

Jesus in the New, that

that takes everything we

have with all your

heart and soul and mind

and strength.

It is the first and

greatest commandment and

the second is like it.

Love your neighbour as

yourself.

On these hang all the

law and the prophets.

And this is the heart of

our faith.

It's the heart of our

relationship with God.

So as I close, I want to

encourage you to look on

this year 2012 as a year

of growing in your love

for God.

Now that doesn't mean just

warm feelings, though there

will be an emotional

aspect to it.

But it means the sort of

love that puts his

concerns first.

That says, what can I do

for him?

How can I serve him more?

How can I give to him

who gave so much for me?

For me that love finds its

focus in the Lord Jesus

himself.

We love him because he

first loved us.

And every time I look back

at the cross, every time I

see my own sinfulness and

my own need of his grace,

every time I remember how

he gave himself up there

for you and for me as he

conquered all our enemies,

sin and death and the

devil, when he fought for

us and achieved our

salvation on the cross of

Calvary.

And how through that we

have entered into the

rest of peace with God

and knowing that our sins

are forgiven and that our

lives are in his

safekeeping.

Every time I do that,

my heart is moved to love

him more.

It's so weak and faint.

Remember that hymn that

says, Lord, it is my chief

complaint that my love is

weak and faint.

Yet I do love you and adore.

Oh, for grace to love you

more.

And I want to ask you this

morning, do you really love

the Lord?

Do you love him?

Are you prepared to give your

life for him?

Are you prepared to follow

wherever he leads you?

Is your confidence not in

your record of what you've

done for him, but in his

record of what he's done

for you?

All that it means for him

to be the Lord.

That's what prompts from us

this response of love that

clings to him, that obeys

him, and that says, oh Lord

Jesus, I do want to be more

like you.

And I do want my life to be a

channel of love for you and

love for others.

If you love him, you'll

express it in praise and

worship.

You'll feel it in the

assurance of faith and deep

gratitude.

You'll want to speak well of

him wherever you go, whenever

you can.

You'll want to serve him, to

please him, to live for him.

Yes, even to suffer and to

die for him.

That's the challenge that

Joshua presents to the up

and coming generation.

And it's the challenge that

God continually presents to

all our hearts, whether we're

young or old, whether we're

new Christians or have been

on the road for many years.

It's the challenge we all

face.

As we look to the future,

are we going to be people who

because of what we've seen

and because of what we

understand, live lives that

obey the truth, cling to the

Lord and love him with

everything we have?

He'll give us the grace to do

it if we're prepared to plug

in to the supply.

Let's pray.