Several years ago, Our Daily Bread told the story of an elderly man, who lay in a hospital with his wife of 55 years sitting at his bedside. “Is that you, Ethel, at my side again?” he whispered.
“Yes, dear,” she answered.
He softly said to her, “Remember years ago when I was in the Veteran's Hospital? You were with me then. You were with me when we lost everything in the fire. And Ethel, when we were poor—you stuck with me then too.”
The man sighed and said, “I tell you, Ethel, you are bad luck.” (Our Daily Bread, 1-18-00; www.PreachingToday.com)
I’m sure he said it with a twinkle in his eye, appreciative of her love and loyalty over the years through good times and bad.
However, this old joke raises a question: Who is worthy of your life-long loyalty? Who deserves your unending commitment? To whom should you cling the rest of your life? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Joshua 23, Joshua 23, where another old man, with long years of hard experience, talks about the only One he has found worth clinging to forever.
Joshua 23:1-2 A long time afterward, when the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. (ESV)
Joshua gathers all the leaders of Israel together for one last meeting. For 40 years, they had been through the agonies and ecstasies of establishing a new nation in a new land. They had experienced times of victory and defeat. They enjoyed times of great celebration together and even endured a time of near civil war. God has been good to them through it all!
Joshua 23:3-5 And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you. Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. The LORD your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the LORD your God promised you. (ESV)
There are still some nations to conquer, but God will drive them out just as He promised. He has been faithful to you. Now, you be faithful to Him.
Joshua 23:6-8 Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day. (ESV)
God has stuck with you. Now, you stick with Him. Don’t pursue other gods. Instead, be faithful to the One who has been faithful to you.
After years of hard experience, the old man, Joshua, advises his leaders and us today, “Cling to the Lord.” Stick with Him. Commit the rest of your life to God. It’s the only way to be all that God has called you to be.
Think about it. Why do some musicians or athletes excel while others remain mediocre? In his book The Social Animal, David Brooks points to current research that reveals the common denominator in attaining excellence in a field: a long-term commitment. Brooks writes:
In 1997 Gary McPherson studied 157 randomly selected children as they picked out and learned a musical instrument. Some went on to become fine musicians and some faltered. McPherson searched for the traits that separated those who progressed from those who did not. IQ was not a good predictor. Neither were aural sensitivity, math skills, income, or a sense of rhythm. The best single predictor was a question McPherson asked the students before they even selected their instruments: How long do you think you will play? The students who planned to play for a short time did not become very proficient. The students who planned to play for a few years had modest success. But there were some children who said, in effect: “I want to be a musician. I'm going to play my whole life.” Those children soared. (David Brooks, The Social Animal, Random House, 2011, pp. 134-135; www.PreachingToday.com)
So it is with those who choose to follow Jesus. Those who say, “I’ll try it for a little while,” usually don’t do well. But those who say, “I’m going to follow Jesus my whole life,” soar! Oh, they may stumble often, but over the long haul, they become all that God has called them to be.
Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice tells the story of Portia, a beautiful and wealthy heiress. She had many noble suitors, but her father’s will stipulated that her husband would be the man who chose the right chest out of three.
One was made of gold and carried the inscription, “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.” Inside was a skull.
The second chest was made of silver and carried the inscription, “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.” Inside was the picture of a fool.
The winning chest was made of lead and held Portia’s picture. On the outside was this inscription: “Who chooseth me must give and risk all he hath.”
Only Bassanic picked the chest of lead and won the hand of Portia, because he was willing to risk all he had for her.
That’s what it means to cling to Christ. Jesus Himself said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:34-36). If you want to cling to Christ, you must give and risk all you have for Him.
Jim Elliott was a missionary, who did just that. He gave his life trying to reach the Waodani tribe in Ecuador with the Good News of Jesus. However, before He died, he said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
You cannot keep your life or the things of this world. All of that is passing away. However, you cannot lose a vibrant relationship with Jesus; because not even death separates you from Christ’ love. So commit your life to the Lord.
Cling to Him, because you can count on Him. You can trust Him to keep His promises to you.
Joshua 23:9-10 For the LORD has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day. One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the LORD your God who fights for you, just as he promised you. (ESV)
Joshua reminds Israel’s leaders that God fights for them just as He promised.
Joshua 23:11 Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. (ESV)
Because God is committed to you, be committed to Him. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
A couple of years ago (December 2016), the TSA at the Los Angeles International Airport posted an Instagram picture of a gigantic teddy bear sitting next to a trash can. “Why does this gigantic teddy bear look so sad?” the caption read. “He was abandoned by his owners at LAX after the airline and TSA determined that he was just too big to be screened as a carry-on and taken on the plane,"
The post led to hundreds of comments, many of them negative. One of them said, “This is NOT OK TSA.” The Instagram post even made it into Time magazine, where the headline read, “The TSA Just Made This Giant Teddy Bear Homeless.” (“TSA brags about making teddy bear homeless,” Local 10 News, 12-15-16; www.local10.com/news/weird-news/tsa-brags-about-making-teddy-bear-homeless; www. PreachingToday.com)
People may abandon you, but Jesus never will! With Him, you’ll always have a seat on the plane. For He has promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). So…
Commit your life to Him, because He is committed to you. Be faithful to the Lord Jesus, because He is faithful to you.
CLING TO THE LORD, BECAUSE YOU CAN COUNT ON HIM. On the other hand…
DON’T CLING TO THE WORLD, BECAUSE IT WILL CON YOU.
Don’t commit your life to the pursuit of anything in this world, because it will trap you; it will enslave and destroy you. That’s Joshua’s warning to the leaders of Israel.
Joshua 23:12-13 For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you. (ESV)
Do not associate with the remaining nations, because they will enslave and destroy you.
Joshua 23:14 “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. (ESV)
God has kept His word and given you all the good things that He promised.
Joshua 23:15-16 But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.” (ESV)
If you serve other gods, besides the Lord, your God, you will quickly perish. That’s Joshua’s warning to the leaders of Israel, and that’s God’s warning to you and me today.
1 John 2 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).
It’s not that God doesn’t love you. Rather you don’t love God if you love the world.
“For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life – is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:16-17).
Those who love the world lose it all, but those who love God live forever – their life counts for eternity. So don’t cling to the world!
A couple of years ago, Fox News reported that police in New Hampshire pulled over a white van with a mountain of items strapped to it. The van was traveling down Interstate 93 with multiple pieces of furniture: a bike, a shovel, a shopping cart and even a 32-inch television. The stack almost doubled the height of the van and may have impressed some people, but not the state troopers. They ticketed the owner and towed the van to prevent “a potential accident from occurring.” In a Facebook post, police warned that “driving with items attached/strapped to your vehicle can be extremely dangerous for you and those driving nearby.” (Fox News, “Driver in New Hampshire Pulled Over for Strapping Mountain of Items on Top of Van,” 6-29-17, www.foxnews.com/ us/driver-in-new-hampshire-pulled-over-for-strapping-mountain-of-items-on-top-of-van; www. PreachingToday.com)
This is a picture of those who cling to their worldly possessions. It’s ridiculous and dangerous for them and those closest to them.
Mary Jo Sales talks about a conversation she had with a teenage girl at an LA mall. She was doing research for her book American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers. The teenager told her, “Social media is destroying our lives,” to which Sales replied, “So why don't you go off it?” Seems reasonable, doesn't it? If something is destroying you, let it go. Smash it. Get rid of it. Well, the girl's response was instant: “Because then we would have no life.” (Trevin Wax, This Is Our Time, B&H Books, 2017; www.PreachingToday.com)
Social media has become an idol to some. It promises life, but it brings death. Now, whether it’s social media, the pursuit of wealth or pleasure, or the thirst for power, these idols promise so much, but they deliver so little. They’re all a con, a trap, which will only destroy you in the end. So don’t cling to the things of this world, because it’s not worth it in the end.
Hideyoshi was a Japanese warlord who ruled over Japan in the late 1500’s. During his reign, he commissioned a colossal statue of Buddha for a shrine in Kyoto. It took 50,000 men five years to build.
It was a magnificent statue, but soon after it was built the earthquake of 1596 struck. It brought the roof of the shrine crashing down and wrecked the statue.
In a rage, Hideyoski shot an arrow at the fallen colossus. “I put you here at great expense,” he shouted, “and you can ‘t even look after your own temple.” (Bible Illustrator #3934, 11/1991.20)
But that’s the nature of any idol, whether it’s a statue or the stuff to which we sometimes cling at great expense. It all eventually comes crashing down around you.
So don’t cling to the world, because it will con you. Instead, cling to the Lord, because you can count on Him.
After all, He demonstrated His love for you by dying on a cross for your sins and rising again (Romans 5:8). He took the punishment you deserved, so you could be with Him forever. All you have to do is trust Him with your life.
Commit your life to Him, because He is committed to you.
As the song-writer put it: Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all (Isaac Watts)
