Daily Manna: Loyalty In All Seasons

Tuesday 12, November 2013

TEXT: JOSHUA 1:12-18

KEY VERSE: “And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses” (Joshua 1:16,17).

People usually put up different reactions when there is a change, particularly in leadership. While some are excited with the change and are ready to move on with the new leader, some are cold, reserved and not too keen to move along. They prefer to wait and watch, not being too sure what the change would evoke. Change is inevitable and we must learn to quickly adapt to it especially when it is brought about by God.

The response of the children of Israel to the charge of Joshua as he assumes the new leadership role after Moses is most challenging. They all, with one voice, pledged their undivided loyalty to Joshua. They must have seen his appointment as divine and must have realised that their corporate success in possessing the Promised Land depended on their accepting the divinely appointed leader and rallying round him. They must have learned valuable lessons from their history and by experience, known how costly and damaging rebellion and disunity was. To be able to confront the more organised and experienced armies of the enemy nations, they knew they needed all the support they could get from God and their leader.

We must learn to accept change when God decides to bring it about. Rebelling against God’s choice will only be to our hurt. And in accepting the new leader, we must not make the mistake of trying to compare his gifts and leadership style with those of the previous leader. He may not have as much gift as the past leader, but he has a divine mandate to accomplish in your life. We are not just helping him to succeed when we do this; we are equally helping ourselves to reach our goal of the Promised Land.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Rebellion and disunity will retard our onward journey.

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