“Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the Lord,.. “Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham..; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau… Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out…
“'”Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land… And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.”
“’Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord… Choose this day whom you will serve.’
“He said, ‘Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.’ And the people said to Joshua, ‘The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.’” Joshua 24:2-5,8,12-15b,23-24
To close his charge to Israel before his death, Joshua reminded them of their long agos, the beautiful tracing of God’s hand from their life of idolatry beyond the River through their deliverance into the promised land they’d just conquered. At this inflection point, reviewing their national journey was to bring Him into clear focus and engender wholehearted trust and devotion.
When we look back and down into our years and consider what the Lord lovingly, strategically put in place long ago, how do we react? Are we bitter as victims of ugly circumstance, or regretful of idols we entertained? Do we fixate on all that’s been lost, difficult, painful, barren? Can we not shake bad memories, hurts, anger? Or do we trace the glory of sharing His sufferings, His merciful deliverances, deep lessons learned, His hand of grace to redeem and heal, and bow in gratitude? Can we see the cross come into focus between what has been and what we’ve become?
It is the enemy who would have us dwell in long ago with jaded, resentful eyes, and the Lord who says, ‘Up! You were there, and now you are here! Your were not mine, now you are Mine! I chose you, took you, led and made and gave and brought and blessed you! ‘ How will we translate His lifelong keeping into present fruitful living? (1 Peter 2:10)
“Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth;
shelters thee under his wings, yea so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e’er have been
granted in what he ordaineth?” ~Joachim Neander (1680)
Lord, thank You for ordering my long agos in affection and fulfilling their purpose by grace that I might glorify Your name.
As the rain and snow 