Strengthen Others For Their Work
Devotional Contributor: Tim Nagy
Scripture:
Deuteronomy 3:28 “But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.”
Observation:
In chapter three of Deuteronomy, Moses tells of how he had been pleading with God to allow him to enter into the promised land. God shuts that door for Moses, and He tells him that Joshua will be the one to lead the Israelites across the Jordan. This may have been a tough pill to swallow, but Moses still had a major role in God’s plan: to charge, encourage, and strengthen Joshua so that he would be ready to lead. In his commentary on this verse, Adam Clarke describes these three important imperatives: “Give him authority in the sight of the people, let them see that he has the same commission which I gave to thee. Encourage him; for he will meet with many difficulties in the work to which he is called. And strengthen him - show him my unfailing promises, and exhort him to put his trust in me alone; for he shall go over before this people, and shall cause them to inherit the land; of this let him rest perfectly assured.” How can we come alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ to charge, encourage, and strengthen them to carry out their work in God’s kingdom? What does this look like today?
Application:
Discipleship is certainly a topic that fits with this verse, and one word that we can focus on is ‘invest’. The verb ‘charge’ is not just about giving someone a task. Oxford Languages provides an excellent alternative definition: ‘fill or pervade (something) with a quality or emotion’. Any financial investment should begin with pervading, researching, and learning more about the particular company or portfolio of interest – an emotional investment. Relationships of Christian discipleship can and should be similar. As we strive to live in the light, we can be open about our ‘company history’ and where we may have had some years ‘in the red’ before letting God take over as CEO. Then we can encourage each other by sharing past experiences and testimonies of how God has worked in our lives. Furthermore, we can invest in each other’s kingdom-building work through sharing contacts, sending messages of encouragement, and holding each other accountable so that our actions match our words. Finally, we can strengthen each other by pointing each other to Jesus, knowing that He is the only reason we have any business investing in the lives of others in the first place! We will be at our strongest when we are fixing our eyes upon Jesus in our worship, prayer, study of Scripture, and conversations. Any investment in others should start with an investment in Jesus. We can apply these principles not just in the context of discipleship, but also in the context of evangelism. We can invest in those who do not know Christ with a beaming hope that they will come to know Him as we declare and demonstrate the gospel to them.
Request:
Father, Thank you for investing in us with your perfect love, your deep faithfulness, and your ‘very great and precious promises’. Help us to prayerfully invest in the lives of those around us. Please equip us with the necessary boldness to charge, encourage, and strengthen believers and non-believers so that Your kingdom will be more fully present in our communities, our churches, and our world. When you close doors in our lives, help us to trust that the plan you are carrying out for us is exponentially better than what we may have been imagining. Thank you for adopting us into Your family and for charging, encouraging, and strengthening us to be on Your astonishing mission of increasing Your family in both strength and number. In Jesus’ name. Amen.