We will be ending our series in Joshua this coming Sunday. Ending Joshua is a bittersweet endeavor (certainly so for me), but it's also quite thought-provoking as Joshua shows us what it is like to finish well. And whether you are 18 or 88, you should be thinking of finishing well. Our time in this life is so short, and we want to run our race well, and fight the good fight with strength. Joshua's example shows us how we are to go about that: our aim is to faithfully live, in all things, as people who live before the watchful eyes of our mighty Lord. We live to please God—and nothing else rivals this aim. I pray that our time in this series will be a tremendous encouragement: be strong, and very courageous.

We are in the penultimate section of the book of Joshua, and it is a particularly powerful section of our book. I will miss this book, but I am going to greatly treasure these final two portions we have to walk through before we move on to 1st and 2nd Peter. With July 4th in mind, it is proper and fitting for us to be in prayer for this land in which God has placed us. Not one of us is in this country (or city, or church) by accident—God has a purpose for each of us and has placed us where He chooses (Acts 17:26-27). So, as we pray, we may praise God that He rules over all the nations as the King of Kings (Ps 22:27-28)! It is good for nations to serve the Lord (Ps 33:12), but it is not good for those nations who reject the Lord (Ps 2:1-12). We as the Church are given the tremendous task of discipling all the nations of the world (Matt 28:18-20), but we are also to especially care for those where we have been planted, the people who we are among (Jer 29:7). It is good for us to be a people who consistently pray that our nation (and indeed, every nation) might seek the Lord and worship Him (Rev 15:4).

This week we will be looking at Joshua 20-21, and the installation of the "cities of refuge" that are pictured on the map below. Quite unlike our modern conception of "sanctuary cities," these cities of refuge were places that sought to preserve the rule of law, the due process of the court, and ultimately the justice of God! God's laws are good and merciful, and these passages show God fulfilling His promises with these good laws for His people.

There is a certain thing I used to find myself doing when I worked out—I would find myself "cheating" a bit toward the end of the workout. In other words, I would start getting a bit tired (and maybe even a little bored of the routine), and I would pay less attention to my form. I would sling the weights around instead of making careful movements. My workout form would become lax and careless. And as I grew older, I realized that is usually the exact point when I would pull or strain something. Even with the end in sight, I had to remember to be especially vigilant. Israel is in a similar spot in Joshua 16–17. This should be the easy time, when the land is allotted, and the last enemies are defeated. This half of the book should be rather easy going! But instead, God's people seem to lose sight of the end goal, and disaster comes from it. They leave enemies all around them, and it does not go well for them. This is not the sort of thing that only happens in ancient Canaan, either. There are a great many things in this world that tempt us to capitulate, to acquiesce, even to abdicate our calling. Christians think that we see the "end" in sight, or maybe we simply forget that we are running a race at all—and we falter and fall. Our goal is to remain faithful and alert, pressing toward the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus. Our prayer should be to run the race in a way that is faithful to Christ. "When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found: dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne."

This Sunday we will be in Joshua 15, which is actually one of the more difficult passages in the book of Joshua. Among several themes that arise, I think this passage is a great place to lead us to consider the theme of bold leadership. Strong, bold leadership is something that the Church needs, but it is also something we frequently do not encourage (and even sometimes chafe against). I am praying that as we work through this theme, we will be encouraged to develop a culture of strong, godly leadership that will serve the kingdom!