Being Ready

Joshua 5: 13 – 14

Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”

He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?”

2 Timothy 4: 1 – 2

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

The Lord of Hosts has now charged Joshua to lead His people into the Promised Land. Joshua, now fully empowered but still cautious, took his responsibility very seriously. This generation that was before him was fully equipped, were highly motivated and focused to take over the land of the Canaanites. Joshua constantly reminded them to obey the Voice of the Lord. He led by example. Now that the people have crossed into Jordan, they were ready to take the city of Jericho which was the first fortified city. Instead of marching ahead, Joshua and all the fighting men waited on the Lord for instructions.

Joshua himself was scouting the land and he chanced upon a man with a drawn sword. Since he didn’t recognize the man, probably not attired in the same way as the Israelite soldier, Joshua cautiously approached him. Joshua was ready to take him down if he was the enemy. Joshua was constantly on the alert. Joshua was courageous enough to question the man if he was for them or against them. However, when he learned that the man was the captain of the host of the Lord, Joshua fell down and worshipped him.

Apostle Paul charged Timothy to constantly be on alert, be ready to defend his faith, to reprove, to rebuke and to exhort at the drop of a hat. We, as believers of Lord Jesus, are supposed to be on our toes constantly when it comes to defending our faith. That means, we have to immerse ourselves in God’s Truth, day in and day out. The more we are filled with the Truth, the more confident we will be to defend our faith. Every curve ball, our fiery dart that is hurled our way, we can deflect them by being on the offense. If the sword of Truth is in our hands and on our lips, we can face any giant, any ism, any doctrine head-on.

In a world where we are constantly being challenged for our faith, subtly questioning the confidence we have in Christ, how much empowered we must be to defend our faith; not only defend our faith but confident enough to point others to the Truth of God’s Word. We do not know when and what kind of enemy will attack us. In season or out of season, we must be ready to defend our faith with kindness and patience.

Dear Saint of God, let us strive to immerse ourselves in the Word of God, so we have confidence to stand boldly in defense of the faith we hold so close. The enemy is lurking around every bend to bring us down, luring us with false doctrines, and placing a doubt in our hearts and minds. Let us boldly avert every attack of the devil, deter every false teaching with the Word of Truth, just like Jesus did.