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Ready to Lead
Evangelist Dr. Bob Sanders
July 1, 2009
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If you have
the opportunity, take a moment and read Joshua 1:1-8.
I would like to draw your
attention to one verse, “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).
Spiritually speaking, the
nation of Israel is one of the most important nations on the
face of the earth. Israel is the chosen nation of God. The
prominence of the nation came to the forefront when it was held
in bondage in Egypt. Having traveled to Egypt to escape a
worldwide famine, over about four hundred years, a small family
is transformed into a mighty nation of several million. It is
there that God raised up a leader to bring His people out from
under the hand of oppression and into a land of promise. That
man was Moses. Until his death, Moses would deliver and direct
this great nation as they moved toward their promised
possession, the land of Canaan. Having been over taken by death,
Moses vacated the place of leadership. Who would step into
Moses’ shoes and fill the place of leadership? Who was ready to
lead?
God turned to Joshua, a
faithful servant of the past. He had grown up in Egypt and seen
the delivering hand of God. He stood by the side of Moses in the
times of difficulty. Joshua ascended the mountain and stood in
the presence of Jehovah. Having all these things to his credit
made Joshua a good man, but is being a good man enough? The
question that must be answered is, “Is he fit for the task of
the present?” Could Joshua successfully assume the role of
leader?
There are a multitude of
things that people look for in a leader. They look for
compassion, knowledge, communication skills, honesty, and
charisma; just to name a few. While these may be important, it
was not the focus of Jehovah! God knew that Joshua could lead if
Joshua maintained a right relationship with the Word of God. The
truth is, an individual that is rightly related to the Word of
God will most likely possess or have at their disposal, all of
the above.
Joshua was to love the
book, “shall not depart out of thy mouth.” It must be
the first thing he reached for in the morning and the last thing
when he lay down at night. A powerful preacher of days gone by
adopted this practice, “No Bible, no breakfast.” Our leaders
have cast aside and declared the truth and principles of God’s
Word as nothing more than fairytales to be believed by the weak
and foolish. Many in leadership have gone so far as to declare
the Bible a menace and call for its destruction. They do not
love, but loath the Word of God!
Joshua was to learn the
book, “thou shalt meditate.” The word “meditate”
means to ponder, study, imagine or talk about. I wonder if we
spent as much time studying the spiritual as we do the secular,
what kind of impact we would make on the world about us. If
Joshua was to accomplish the task before him and effectively
lead this great nation, he would have to have enlightenment and
the only place to receive it was the Word of God. This great
nation in which we live was founded upon the principles and
truths of the Word of God. It will be difficult, if not
impossible to lead the nation if one does not have an
understanding of the basic truths it was founded on!
Joshua was to live the
book, “observe to do according to all.” The whole
purpose for studying the book is not so we can define our
position or project our intellectual accomplishments. We study
the Word so that it can become an integral part of our will and
our walk. We must take on the image of the Word.
Everything Joshua needed to
be an effective leader was tied to Joshua’s relationship to the
Book. Our nation is in desperate need of quality leadership!
There has been a gradual erosion of the importance that God’s
Word plays in the development and direction of our nation. Our
nation’s leaders have gradually moved away from living the book
and learning the book. Today a love for the book has been
replaced by a loathing of the book.
The qualifications for
leading a great nation, whether it be the Israel of days gone by
or the United States of America, is not education, charisma, or
communication skills. The question that we need to be asking our
leaders and all potential leaders is, “What is your relationship
to the Word of God?” It is what God looked for in choosing a
leader for His people and it should be what we look for in our
consideration of a leader for this great nation.
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