Long Obedience

“…choose you this day whom ye will serve;…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”
Joshua 24:15

When I was in seminary, I remember reading a paper titled “Planting Mushrooms or Growing Oak Trees?”  At the time, I did not fully understand the impact of that statement, but the analogy was simple.  A mushroom grows virtually overnight; however, its effects on its environment are minimal.  On the other hand, oak trees take years to mature but make a massive impact on their surroundings.

In most endeavors, it is human nature to search for a short cut in the name of efficiency.  Who doesn’t love a shortcut?  But not all shortcuts produce the promised result, and the Bible warns of these unintended consequences.  For example, Proverbs 28:20, “A faithful man shall abound with blessings: But he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.” Short cuts can and do have unintended consequences!  The achievement of goals requires consistent obedience to set yourself up for success; in other words, “long obedience.”  Eugene Peterson, in his book titled “Long Obedience,” adds this idea, “long obedience in the same direction.”

The concept of ‘long obedience’ is not new, nor has it become irrelevant.  Achieving spiritual maturity in Biblical terms is just such a process that requires faithful and consistent action for achievement.  Physical fitness, financial stability, a healthy marriage, and many other desirable goals also require this ‘long obedience.’  In a world of “instant everything,” it is easy to lose sight of this principle.

Joshua, in the book named after him, was near the end of his earthly life when he spoke to the nation for the last time (Joshua 24).  Embedded in his last sermon, he shares several vital principles to achieving ‘long obedience.’ 

I. Long Obedience Requires Humbleness (Joshua 24:1)

The first step to completing any journey is to start.  Often, we fail, not from lack of know-how. Our failure is a failure to launch.  I remember the day I decided I wanted to run a 5k.  It was a humble start to the training process when I found out that I could not run a quarter of a mile without stopping to gasp for air.  I thought about quitting.  But instead, I accepted this humble start and soon after ran my first 5k race.  The key was the humble start.

Joshua started his long obedience to the Lord humbly as the servant to Moses.  In Exodus 24:13, we read about his start, “And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God. (emphasis added)” Joshua humbly submitted himself to the leadership of Moses.  This beginning was Joshua’s humble start to long obedience.

Often the unseen enemy in our lives is pride veiled as humility.  Think about that.  We don’t save money for the future because we “don’t have much to save.”  We don’t exercise because “I can’t do that much.”  We don’t pray because we don’t think we can pray for an hour.  Don’t wait to start. Start where you are and with what you have, and trust God’s blessing on your long obedience!

II. Long Obedience Requires Anchoring (Joshua 24:1)

Shechem is a unique location in Israel.  God spoke to Abram at Shechem, then spelled Sichem (Genesis 12:6-7).  Shechem was the place of covenant renewal for Israel (Joshua 8:30-35).  Now, Joshua gives his last sermon from this unique and memorable location.  Joshua wants his words and locale to anchor the Israeli nation to God.

This definition comes from Wikipedia, “an anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current.”  The writer of Hebrews says in 6:19a, “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast…”  The challenge for Christians is to anchor to Christ.  For he is our Rock.  Faith (‘hope,’ in the book of Hebrews) connects the vessel (the Christian) to the Rock (Christ). To ensure our anchor holds, we need to be active in prayer, the word of God, and in fellowship with other believers.

III. Long Obedience Requires Remembrance (Joshua 24:2-13)

Disruption and distraction can be significant causes of disobedience.  Distractions happen with our eyes and emotions.  Our eyes and emotions are quickly captivated by worldly things.  The devil’s sneak previews are whispered across the thoughts of our mind. The lie distraction tells us is, “I will only take a minute, go ahead.”  When we accept the lie, our eyes and emotions are off on a chase that will end in disappointment.

Disruption takes on many forms and is unplanned, unexpected, unforeseen.  The lie disruption tells us is, “God has taken care of you every day of your life, but He may not take care of you tomorrow.”  Disruption preys on our fears, and fear is the mortal enemy of faith.  When we believe this lie, we have chosen fear over hope.

Joshua leads his listeners through a Jewish history lesson recorded in Joshua 24:2-13.  He recounts many times God delivered the nation in moments of crisis and disruption.  Remembering these events and events from our own life where God provided for us, strengthens our faith, and gives us hope that God will again reveal Himself as our great Deliverer. Always remember, there are no impossible situations with God!

IV. Long Obedience Requires a Choice (Joshua 24:14-28)

Life is about choices.  Vanilla or chocolate?  Ford or Chevy? Selfish or Selfless? We make choices every day, and Joshua reminds his listeners that they have choices to make.  Will Israel serve God or idols?  Jesus told us of the same principle in the New Testament when he stated you could not serve God and mammon.

Idols today vary from the ones of Joshua’s time on earth.  Though believers may not be worshipping at the foot of a carved image or a graven image, idolatry slips into our hearts in various forms.  Our careers can become an idol.  Position and the pursuit of success can replace God, or when we find ourselves chasing more and more things to make us happy.  We must never forget that anything that we allow to supersede God in our life can become an idol to us.

Joshua teaches us that we must go “ALL IN” on God and makes his most definitive and famous statement here when he says, “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 

V. Long Obedience Requires a Hand-off (Joshua 24:29-33)

The Apostle Paul admonishes his young protégé, Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” Paul wanted Timothy to understand his responsibility to teach and train the next generation of Christian leaders.

In the same manner, Joshua was the recipient of training and discipleship from Moses.  Through this process, he also understood the necessity of teaching the next generation.  In Joshua 24:31, we read of Joshua’s successful handoff, “And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.” Joshua successfully passed the baton of spiritual truth to the next generation.  May we never forget this last principle of long obedience to systematically pass our spiritual life and understanding on to the next generation of our family and church family.

Sadly, in the next book of the Bible, Judges, we see what happens when there is a missed handoff.  Make the handoff; the next generation is counting on you!