Joshua 1

(May 21, 2014)
It is fascinating to see the change in tone and text.  Moses the lawgiver has spent countless years in the desert wandering – dealing with problems as they occur, being responsive, and teaching the people.  Now, however, within a very short time the death of Moses, Joshua is responding to the command of the Lord and turning a passive people into an active one.

The instruction for accomplishing this design is interesting.  Be strong.  Be of good courage.  Deviate not to the left or the right (stay on the strait and narrow).  Boldly move forward.  As we see the world crumbling around us (and, in many ways, it is) we are tempted to be passive.  I see the mistakes that society has made, and I have been tempted to say that it is only that much better for me and mine.  I will raise my children to know the Gospel and to live it, and they will have so much the advantage over those who are squandering their birthright.  My sons, raised in a two-parent home and well-educated, will thrive in the job market when competing with the children who lacked such advantages.  My daughters, inspired by the actions of their mother (a brilliant scientist who sacrificed her career to raise her children in righteousness) will likewise be fantastic mothers because of her example and raise other, righteous children to pass that legacy onward.  So I am tempted to turtle, build my family, and let the world go to Hell around me (literally).

But that is not the correct course of action.  There was a time for passively building and changing the nature of the people, just as there was a time for passively building my testimony and my knowledge of the Gospel.  This is not that time, however.  Instead, I believe this to be the time for squaring my shoulders, being strong and of good courage, and stepping forward into the breach.  It may not be what I want to do, and I might not be very good at it, but it is what I am prepared to do.