As parents we have all gone through the frustrating process of giving advice to our children who we can tell are not truly listening. When they’re younger, our expectations are often less, simply due to their limited attention spans and inability to fully process our advice. But, as our children get older, and the stakes are higher, it’s even more frustrating when they are purposely not listening and choosing their own path to their own peril. We can’t make anyone listen, but we must be faithful to continue reaching out with loving Biblical counsel. The same is true when we share our faith with friends and family. Though we know we have the words which lead to eternal life, we cannot make anyone accept and adopt these words. We can often tell when there is no penetration. I think of Jesus who loved so much more purely than I do, and cared so much more than I do, when He said in Matthew 23:37, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

Like Moses, Joshua had walked with this rebellious group for many years now. He writes in Joshua 23:11-13, "Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God. Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations...know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you." Joshua brings his final words to a conclusion as we read in 24:13-15, "I" (God) "have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them;...Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River,...But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

There are so many ways to consider the truths in these statements. Many believe that all the blessings in their life is a result of their hard work rather than the gift of God. They have become their own gods, or they worship any of the more modern manifestations of the ancient gods. In those days they were called: Baal, Asherah, Molech, Mammon, etc. Now they are called: pride, power, pleasure, prestige, money, etc. Joshua knew where his blessings came from. We would all do well to realize this first, before we try to give advice to others. Once we humble ourselves before Almighty God, as Isaiah did before the throne of God in Isaiah 6:1-7, when he stated, "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts." (6:5), we can then accept our commission as Isaiah did when he said in 6:8, "Here am I! Send me." But we must understand what this commission is as we read in 6:9, "And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. 'We, God's children, must know our commission, willingly accept it, and love those that God has put in our path. Just as God never forced His will on us, we can’t do that to others. We never give up, but keep obediently presenting the only words of eternal life to so many in desperate need of it realizing that many, if not most, will choose to hear but not understand and see but not perceive. Father, I ask you to help me to recognize where you are at work around me. Open the eyes of those blinded by the world and give them eyes to see you, to love You, to seek You and to find You, help me to walk in love and share Your Words of wisdom in due season. In the mighty name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ our King.