-- Monday, 6/28/10 -- TALK IS CHEAP -- Joshua 24:16

[J.R. & Bonnie Ricks]

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TALK IS CHEAP -- Joshua 24:16 NIV

 

Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!

 

We've been talking about commitment, about choosing to serve God, about examining our lives, about taking a stand for God.  But talk is cheap.  Right here, the people of Israel said, "Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods!"  And yet, what did they do over and over and over again after Joshua was gone?

 

When Jesus predicted that everyone would fall away from Him, Peter declared, "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will." (Matthew 26:33 NIV) And yet that very night Peter denied Jesus three times.

 

Talk is cheap.  It's easy to say you'll follow Jesus no matter what.  But then "what" happens, and it suddenly does matter "what!"  It's easy to say, "I'll never put anything before God!"  As long as "anything" doesn't include relationships, money, jobs, security, children, spouses, habits or possessions!  As long as we can hang onto greed, wrong priorities, jealousy, prejudice, anger, gluttony, laziness and self pity!  It's easy to say you'll follow Jesus until something Jesus says disagrees with what you think!  It's easy to say you'll never lose the peace God gives you until the phone rings and your son's just been arrested, or your spouse has been killed in a car wreck, or the doctor tells you that the tests are back and you have inoperable cancer.

 

Talk is cheap.  The Israelites discovered this the hard way, over and over and over again.  Peter discovered this the hard way, over and over and over again.  You and I discover it, too.  We find again and again that we can talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the walk we trip and fall miserably.

 

Joshua knew talk was cheap.  But he also knew how to walk.  He walked with God.  He held fast to God all through his life.  And his faith and leadership were so strong that the people of Israel did not falter during his lifetime!  That's pretty impressive, isn't it?  We should all follow Joshua's example.

 

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