Daily Lesson for March 20, 2020

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 23:

“Then the Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, ‘Be strong and bold, for you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I promised them; I will be with you.’”

Joshua was the young Lieutenant of Moses, who suddenly found himself chosen to be the head of the people at a seminal moment in their history, just as they were to cross over the Jordan and face the grave dangers of Canaan.

I know so many who feel like Joshua must have felt, uncertain, scared, completely ill-equipped, yet somehow at the helm of hospitals, and businesses, and churches, and cities, elderly care facilities, and critical governmental agencies. And the refrain I keep hearing from pastors sums it up for all of us, “They didn’t teach us this in seminary.”

No; they didn’t.  We’re in Canaan now, COVID Canaan. We’ve never been here. But regardless, we are called now to lead.

And the Lesson this morning comes as a promise and encouragement that we are not alone in this our hour of need, as we suddenly find ourselves in Canaan Land, with everybody expecting us to know what to do in order to survive.

Here the words again:

“Be strong and bold, for you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I promised them; I will be with you.”

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Over the weekend we will finish up Deuteronomy, read Psalm 91, and begin the book of Joshua, chapters 1-8.