Wholehearted Discipleship!
"I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly." Joshua 14:7-9
When Moses sent the twelve spies to spy out the land of Canaan and bring back a report on the people, only two of the men he sent, Joshua and Caleb acted righteously. All of the spies accepted the mission, all of the spies claimed the God of Abraham as their God but as they saw the inhabitants of the land, the mighty Amorites and gigantic Anakites, their hearts melted with fear and unbelief. When they saw the battle was going to be tough they quickly gave up and began to grumble against the LORD. However there were two men among them who had the conviction to take a stand for God and go take the land the God of their forefathers had promised them. As all the other spies grumbled and complained against God to Moses, Caleb silenced the people and said; " We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
We live in a world today where too many people refuse to take a stand for God. They will confess Jesus as Lord and even praise God every Sunday but when the "rubber meets the road" and it's time to take a stand against Satan, far too many just take the easy way out. The idea of being a wholehearted disciple is seen as some ideal to be reached and not the bottom-line standard of being a disciple of Christ!
Many people today who claim to love God feel as though they can't overcome the Anakites of pornography and the Amorites of immorality. Just as God needed Caleb and Joshua to take a stand and say we can take back the land, today God needs those who claim to be disciples to give themselves wholeheartedly to winning the world for him. Today we must call people to become wholehearted disciples and we must call those among us to repent and serve the Lord wholeheartedly. It's time to repent of impurity, greed, lukewarmness, and selfishness. It's time to quit doing the bare minimum and give your whole heart to God and His church; whenever we meet, whatever the need, and whatever the sacrifice has to be. As disciples we are the only hope the world has of breaking free from sin and serving God wholeheartedly. At the end of the day Caleb was given the land of Horeb because he served God wholeheartedly and the ten faithless spies died because they served the Lord halfheartedly. As as the Austin International Church of Christ we must re-dedicate ourselves to building a church of wholehearted disciples. In doing so we will receive the inheritance that God has promised and we will lead the multitudes to receiving it as well!
To God be all the Glory!
