Diligence – Joshua 23:11 – Highway of Holiness

So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God.

How grand the honor, how vast the blessing is the privilege of loving the Lord, our God.

Nothing on the earth below or in the heavens above is more desirable than loving God, and nothing is wiser than pursuing this love with dedicated hearts and consecrated spirits since we cannot love God while continuing in our former lives. Loving Him requires us to set ourselves apart for Him, to seek Him diligently, to follow Him devotedly, to obey Him faithfully, and to remain close to Him resolutely.

Joshua teaches us that those who would love God must be “very careful” to obey the law, which the Lord has set before us. To love the Lord, we must walk in His ways, keeping His commandments and holding fast to Him, serving Him with all our hearts and souls.[1] We must be “very firm” in our resolve to keep and do all that He has written in His Word.[2] For our God is a jealous God, jealous for our love and devotion, jealous for the blessed lives He gives to those who remain close to Him and stay aloof from sin.[3]

Our heavenly Father, desiring our welfare, longs to fill us with His love, thereby fortifying us against the temptation lurking at the corner, on the highways, and in our homes. He desires to arm us against the false gods who desire to entrap us, so they can lash us with whips and stab our eyes with thorns once we are their captives.[4] Out of the Lord’s love for us, He instructs us to fear Him that we might understand His power and desire His fellowship. He teaches us to serve Him in sincerity and truth and to separate ourselves from impurity and ungodliness, so we will be blameless before Him[5] and able to receive His promises.

Lover of God, love Him with a holy passion, refusing to approach the throne of grace halfheartedly, understanding that you cannot love the Lord and continue to indulge in unsanctified living.[6] Love the Lord your God with your whole heart and undivided mind.[7] Love Him with enthusiasm, diligence, devotion, and love Him in truth, refusing to go back into the sin from which He has delivered you.[8] Love the Lord, and He will make you like a mighty oak planted by streams of water, and He will prosper you in all your undertakings.[9]

Like a tree firmly planted
My beloved, you shall be
Like a tree firmly planted
You shall root yourself in Me

The rain that falls upon you
Shall give substance to your soul
The winds that rock and shake you
Merely serve to make you whole

My Word shall richly feed you
And encourage as you grow
Watering your thirsty heart
And the seeds of life you’ll sow

And in the spring you’ll blossom
So exuberantly free
Flowers bursting forth in joy
To announce your victory

Like a tree firmly planted
You shall be in Me

[1] Joshua 22:5

[2] Joshua 23:6

[3] Joshua 24:19

[4] Joshua 23:13

[5] Deuteronomy 18:13

[6] Matthew 6:24

[7] 1 Chronicles 28:9