Friday, August 27, 2010

Leadership lessons from Joshua

Joshua 1:6 – 7

6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

It is easy to think the hardest part in leading anyone would be to simply accomplish the mission. However, this is not the case when it comes to Kingdom leaders. Now, I am not saying that it is not important for a kingdom leader to accomplish his or her goals, but what the Scriptures convey is that paramount to accomplishing any goal is maintaining the leader’s relationship with God first. Look at the beginning of vs. 6 and compare it to vs. 7. In verse 6 God exhorts Joshua to “Be strong and courageous…” in order to lead the Hebrews into the inheritance. However, in vs. 7 we see the exhortation to “Be strong and very courageous” regarding their commandment to obey the law. The adverb “very” modifies the verb courageous; moreover, the word “very” in Greek is me‘od, which means exceedingly. Thus, God is encouraging Joshua to be courageous about taking the land but to be exceedingly courageous about adhering to the law. Is this exhortation not revealing? God is telling the General that conquering the land would be hard, but adhering to the laws and marinating a right relationship with God would be more challenging. Yet, if we take a broader look it makes perfect sense. Without a vibrant and healthy relationship with God, it is impossible for us to accomplish anything for Him or His people. To reiterate, accomplishing the mission is important for the Kingdom leader; however, the priority for him or her is to adhere to God’s commands and maintain a healthy relationship with him. Scriptures conveys the point clearly: paramount to accomplishing any goal for the Kingdom, a leader must stay connected with God first.

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