BE COURAGEOUS

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success – Joshua 1:8.”

 

To serve the Lord, courage is needed. It is not the kind of courage built by man. It is not a man-made kind of being bold or strong. It is not derived by lifting weight and developing physical physique. It is true that bodily exercise profited little. This profit has little or nothing to do with the form of courage we are talking about.

 

Courage is not by size, height or position. Any courage that is nurtured because of physical structure or make up is not going to be a lasting one. It is not a courage to be relied upon. There are some people whose courage is built upon their financial status. They become bold based on the amount of money in their account. It is to these people the Lord had to warn saying –

“…Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches… - Jer. 9:23.”

 

The courage we speak of is that which is gotten or derived by the word of God. We must pray for the courage to study the word of God and to put it into action. It is the courage to keep the law of God and obey His commandment. It is the courage to meditate in the word of God day and night. Ask the rich about their work ethics. Go to those who are in business and enquire from them the ways and methods of their work. They shall give you this slogan at once – “not slothful in business…” If this is applied to business, why then do we think it is in serving the Lord we are to be sluggish and lazy. No! We need fervency in Spirit to serve the Lord acceptably and rightfully.

 

When God was commanding Joshua to be courageous and to be strong, many people would have thought He was telling him to build up the army of the hosts of Israel. Others could as well think it was all about dealing with the fear of people or the neighbouring nations. As reasonable and appealing that sounded, that was not the courage the Lord was after. To save time, we shall discuss this in two folds. First, the way and manner of the courage. The second shall be the application of the courage.

 

First, the Lord gave the man the method required to be courageous. One would have thought another method would do. But you see God, He is wise in heart and mighty in strength. The ways God thinks are not the same as man’s. So, He told Joshua the way to have courage is in reading and meditating in His word. Friends, this is one sure way to build courage. When we give ourselves to studying the word of God there is a form of courage that is built within us such as cannot be found in this world.

 

The second point is the application of the strength. Courage derived in reading and studying the word of God gives a man the strength to put what he had read into action. It takes boldness to obey. It takes courage to do what God says. It takes courage to follow the path which God has made for us. Obedience to the Lord is the way of the courageous. Therefore, we are charged to give ourselves wholly to the word of God.

 

Search through the scriptures, those who lived in timidity were those in whose heart the word of God was not found or they couldn’t convincingly and persuasively hold unto the word of God. For this reason, we are to make the word of Christ to dwell in us richly. The courage David had to confront Goliath was not learnt or taught by man. It must have been constant meditation on God’s word -

"The law of the LORD is perfect...Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward - Ps. 19:7-11."

The courage the apostles had to confront the elders and the people in Jerusalem was not learnt in school. It was simply by listening to the word of Christ.

 

Finally, to overcome sin, satan and the world, it is not by weight lifting else it would once again be sung that - "How are the mighty fallen and weapons of war perish." It is by the word of God. Let us therefore, draw courage from and in the word of God. The devil does not have respect for your physique sir let alone your purse. Let your courage be word-based. Let the faith be built by hearing of the word. And not just word, but by the word of God.

 

COURAGEOUS GREETINGS

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