“Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.” (v. 7)

Isn’t this precisely the word that we need today?

We’re familiar with the biblical refrain, “Be strong and courageous.” The idea comes front and center in Joshua—but it’s a meaningful thread through all of Scripture. God’s people are called to walk, to follow, and to go courageously.

I’m not sure how you’ve imagined that would look in your life. Maybe you imagined heroic moments or big stands or fateful decisions. We think, when we’re asked to throw our chests out and be courageous, that it also means throwing ourselves into something epically adventurous.

But read the words given to Joshua again:

“Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction….”

You know what takes courage?

Obedience.

You and I walk in a world that is hostile to exclusive truth, to objective morality, and to a singular Gospel. We are antagonized by those who hate our Jesus-commissioned proclamation. We are surrounded by a culture that refuses to die to self and resists any encouragement to do so.

If we, then, are to press forward in obedience to all those things—repentance and evangelism and mission and orthodoxy—we will have to be courageous.

The good news is that He goes with us, when we go obediently.

— Tyler