Category Archives: Deuteronomy

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You Didn’t Build That!

Your Accomplishments Are By God's Grace

SYNOPSIS: Moses hit the nail on the head when he called the Israelites to never forget that God alone was responsible for their success once they hit easy street in Canaan. He warned that they would start to believe their own press about why they had been able to achieve such an impossible victory. But he reminded them that it was in no way, shape or form because of their brilliance, creativity or worthiness—in fact, it was in spite of severe deficits in all those areas. They were not great people most of the time, not even good, but God loved them like nobody’s business. No, the fact that they were God’s chosen people had nothing to do with them and everything to do with God’s sovereign election, his incomprehensible grace, and his never-ceasing mercy! That would be true of you and me, too! It is God who grants us success. And he alone deserves the credit!

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 9:4-6

After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people…. [You are God’s] special possession, whom you brought out of Egypt by your great strength and powerful arm.

The heading in the New Living Translation of Deuteronomy 9 says, “Victory By God’s Grace.” Doesn’t that sound redundant? Isn’t every victory in the believer’s life because of God’s unmerited favor? Absolutely. There is nothing we can do, although we have a part; there is no success we achieve, although we have to work hard; there is no game we win, although we have to practice hard, that isn’t because God graciously stepped in to lead us to victory.

Years ago a politician took a ton of grief from the other side—that, too, is redundant these days; it’s just what political parties do early and often—for a comment promoting a certain political philosophy: “you didn’t build that!” The president from the same party repeated the line in a speech, using it to shame the other team. Of course, it didn’t shame them—it simply fired them up!

There is a truth to what they were saying, but for reasons they didn’t have in mind. Moses hit the nail on the head when he called the Israelites to never forget that God alone was responsible for their success once they hit easy street in Canaan. He warned that they would start to believe their own press about why they had been able to achieve such an impossible victory. But he reminded them that it was in no way, shape or form because of their brilliance, creativity or worthiness—in fact, it was in spite severe deficits in all those areas. They were not great people most of the time, not even good, but God loved them like nobody’s business. No, the fact that they were God’s chosen people had nothing to do with them and everything to do with God’s sovereign election, his incomprehensible grace, and his never-ceasing mercy!

That is true of my life! I don’t stand a chance apart from God’s sovereign choice, his rich grace and his undeserved mercy. Nothing I achieve of any value is because of me. I had a part—albeit a a bit part—doing what I was supposed to do, working hard, being faithful, stepping out in faith. But even if that sounds like somehow my goodness and effort motivated God, that is simply not true. Most of the time, my badness, lack of sustained effort and skewed motives negated whatever good might have been in play for me. God, early and often, has had to override my fallenness with grace.

That is true for you, too! And we would do well to remember that every single day we take fresh breath, head out the door, and do whatever God has set before us to do, big or small. In fact, God has actually gone before you and done all the heavy lifting. He is simply calling you to go where he already is, and to walk into the success that he has already secured. Moses told the Israelites as much in Deuteronomy 9:3:

Recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy your enemies.

It is God who grants us success. And he alone deserves the credit!

No, you didn’t build that. God did!

Going Deeper: Count your many blessings—name them one by one. Now give God credit for each of them.

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The Beauty of a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

God Is Always Working His Plan

Synopsis: Good news! If there is a test in your life that is stressing you to the point of cracking, even if you have to “faith it,” just know this: God is at work! God never allows a test that is not without a purpose and a plan. The purpose is to show you that you cannot do life apart from him—and knowing that is the highest knowledge a human being will ever attain. The plan is to bring you to a place of humble dependence on his immutable goodness and constant provision—and there is no better place to be. So thank God for tests!

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 8:2-5

Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.

Like Alexander the Horrible, have you just come through a really terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? Maybe it’s not just the day, it’s the season you are in that makes you feel like you are on a losing streak—with no end in sight. Perhaps the weight of an unwanted burden is straining your capacity—and if one more thing is added, you will break. It might be that personal failures and shortcomings are constant reminders of your incompetence—you just don’t measure up. Maybe it’s not just your day that is really terrible, horrible, no good, and very bad—it is you! Or so you think.

Good news! If there is a test in your life that is stressing you to the point of cracking, even if you have to “faith it,” just know this: God is at work! Moses reminds you that God never allows a test that is not without a purpose and a plan. The purpose is to show you that you cannot do life apart from him, and knowing that is the highest knowledge a human being will ever attain. The plan is to bring you to a place of humble dependence on his immutable goodness and constant provision, and there is no better place to be. So thank God for tests!

Slowly read and absorb these verses again from the Message translation:

Remember every road that God led you on for those forty years in the wilderness, pushing you to your limits, testing you so that he would know what you were made of, whether you would keep his commandments or not. He put you through hard times. He made you go hungry. Then he fed you with manna, something neither you nor your parents knew anything about, so you would learn that men and women don’t live by bread only; we live by every word that comes from God’s mouth. Your clothes didn’t wear out and your feet didn’t blister those forty years. You learned deep in your heart that God disciplines you in the same ways a father disciplines his child.

Whatever the test you are enduring, stop what you are doing, set aside your raw emotions, fears, frustrations, disappointment and anger to reframe your thinking so that you are focusing on God’s purpose and plan for you. Realize how privileged you are that God’s has allowed, or caused, and always uses what you are going through for your gain and his glory. Think of these wise words from Hebrews 12:7-11,

Endure hardship as discipline. Remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

So you see, a really terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day is really not so terrible, horrible, no good or very bad after all. Reframe your hardship or your test as the discipline of your loving Father, because “God disciplines those he loves, as a father the child he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:12)

Got a test? Congratulations, it means you are incredibly loved.

Going Deeper: What is your current hardship? Embrace it as God’s discipline, which you are to embrace as love. And the best way I know to do that is simply to say “God thanks!”

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Life’s Greatest Lesson

Fight The Drift Of Self-Centeredness At All Cost

SYNOPSIS: Simply put, you didn’t choose God; he chose you. In reality, you were the last kid who would have been chosen when the team captains were picking sides, but God took you first. By His grace, you went from last to first. Never forget that, and you will be on your way to humility. When you understand the origin of humility—God’s unconditional, unmerited love in choosing you—and as you stay focused on the outcome of humility—the current and future favor of God—you will be ready and able to fight the drift of your self-focussed sin nature.

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 7:6-7, 12

Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you….If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you.

As Moses wraps up his decades-long ministry of leading God’s people out of Egypt to the edge of their Promised Land, he gives them one of the most important lessons of all in Deuteronomy 7. It was a lesson that if learned, would guarantee divine blessings upon Israel for generations. It is a lesson that is still valid today, keying God’s continual favor upon us, too. What was the lesson? Humility.

St Augustine rightly noted that “Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues. Hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.” Humility is the foundation for ever other Christian virtue. A mindset and lifestyle of authentic humility is God’s clear calling and unquestionable expectation for his people. The Apostle Paul taught in Colossians 3:12-14,

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death…”

Did you catch that? The founder of our faith, Jesus, made himself nothing when he came to earth. 2 Corinthians 8:9 uses the same word to describe Jesus becoming poor. The root word in Greek is kenosis, which refers to Jesus emptying himself of his God-prerogatives in order to completely identify with us and lift us out of our spiritual poverty. Grammatically, the Greek language makes it clear that Jesus didn’t empty himself in spite of being God—that’s usually how we read this passage. Rather than reading it, “even though he was God, he made himself nothing” it should be read, “He made himself nothing precisely because he was God.” In other words, this expression of humility is the very nature of God.

This very attitude of humility is the same mindset that Paul calls us to take on. That is the same attitude that God himself, through Moses, called the Israelites to clothe themselves with as well. Of course, pulling off humility will be the hardest thing we will ever do because it rubs against the fur of our fallen, selfish nature. Moses, however, gives us the motive for doggedly pursuing humility, and our motivation is to be found in both the origin and the outcome of humility.

First the origin of humility is found in the unmerited, unconditional love that God has for us. Moses describes that in Deuteronomy 7:6-11,

For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.

Simply put, you didn’t choose God; he chose you. In reality, you were the last kid who would have been chosen when the team captains were choosing up sides, but God took you first. By God’s grace, you went from last to first. Never forget that, and you will be on your way to humility. Never forget that and you will never loose your humility.

Second, humility will survive in your life when you keep the outcome of true humility in your view-finder. Simply put, God blesses the humble with grace. (1 Peter 5:5-6, James 4:6, Proverbs 3:34). And Moses describes that grace outcome in terms of current and future favor in Deuteronomy 7:12-15,

If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!

If you and I never forget God’s sovereignly selecting love, then live the rest of our lives as a thanks offering for that love, our daily offering of worship will be to present him lives wrapped in the holy humility of Jesus Christ. And there is no better way to live.

The founder of our faith, Jesus, made himself nothing when he came to earth. By emptying himself, he revealed his organic humility. As his followers, our calling is to clothe ourselves with that same humility. And when we understand the origin of humility—God’s unconditional, unmerited love in choosing us, and as we stay focused on the outcome of humility—the current and future favor of God upon our lives, fighting the drift of our selfish sin nature will be the most worthy and rewarding effort we will ever make.

Going Deeper: Take this moment to reflect on God’s sovereign choice of you. You didn’t deserve it; you were not a likely choice. But God loves you, chose you, accepted you and adopted you as his prized possession anyway. Now, how about thanking God for that!

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Reclaim Your Kids From Culture

God-Time With Them Is The Key

SYNOPSIS: God-time with your kids is the most important investment you can make, so don’t surrender your ordained influence to your children’s culture. God has provided an amazing template for Christian parents to accomplish this most important task: early and often, talk to your kids about your wonderful, powerful, loving God! Like the people of old, write the law of God on the doorpost of your home, so to speak. That means when they come in, when they go out, and when they are in the home, God is to be the center of attention, the core of your family values, and the continual topic of conversation.

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 6:6-8

You must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

As a Christian parent, grandparent, caregiver or mentor, who or what is training your kids? As an observer of current culture, my sense is that those whom God has charged with the primary training and discipling of children—the child’s parents—have abdicated their roles to others. Parents have passively left it up to the children’s director, the youth pastor, the coach, mentor, daycare workers, or school instructor, or worse, the TV (or whatever form of media is used these days) to do their job for them.

Of course, that is not something parents consciously do. It is just that they have gotten busy, or lazy, and have uncritically surrendered the most important role in the universe to others. Now the role others play is very important. But make no mistake: those “others” are only to be supportive of what the parent is responsible for—the training of the child in the ways of the Lord. Likewise, and make no mistake about this, some of those “others” are more harmful than helpful to the moral, spiritual and social development of the children. I think we are now at the stage where TV and other media are aggressive and intentionally fostering a godless agenda with our children. Pay close attention to public education these days: vain and empty philosophies directed at forming the child abound. Sit up and pay close attention Christian parents: there is an all out war for the hearts and minds of your children.

Now instead of bemoaning the reality that our culture has drifted from God and from the Judeo-Christian values that shaped our American culture, let’s simply realize that we are living in a time that Christians throughout history and around the rest of the world have always and currently face. And they were ruthlessly intentional about protecting their children from the influences of evil of that godless culture. They took responsibility for being the primary disciplers of their kids. They took seriously the call to inculcate their kids with the things of God. They told God-stories at bedtime, they prayed God-protection in the morning over their kids as they left the house and they taught God-values whenever they had a moment throughout the day. Early and often, God was the topic of conversation.

Throughout the history of God’s people—in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and for two thousand years of Christian history, believers have written the law of God on the doorpost of their homes, so to speak. That means when they came in, when they went out, and when they were in the home, God was the center of attention, the core of the family’s values and the continual topic of conversation.

It’s about time we reclaim our kids from culture, by any and all means necessary. And God has provided those means for Christian parents to accomplish this most important task: early and often, talk to them about our wonderful, powerful, loving God!

Do that and you will rescue your kids from an evil world, and leave a legacy that will be replicated in godly generations to come!

Going Deeper: Today—don’t wait—calendarize God-time with your children, grandchildren or students. And stick to it! It’s the most important investment you can make.

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Get Rid Of Your Gods—There Is Only One!

Honor The First Commandment—The Other Nine Will Fall Into Place

SYNOPSIS: It is true that if the Israelites, and by extension, you and I, honored this first commandment—worship only God—then we would need none of the other nine commandments. We would never lie, never hurt our neighbor, always be faithful to our spouse, never lust, cuss, gripe or sin in any other way. Get this one right and you will be righteous.

The Journey// Focus: Deuteronomy 5:6-7

I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery., You must not have any other god but me.

Deuteronomy is Moses’ leadership swan song. He is about to go the way of all the earth; his impossible mission is accomplished and God is going to take him to his final reward. He has left a leadership legacy that has not been matched in human history up to this moment. I doubt anyone will ever surpass the feat of spiritual, military, social and organizational leadership that Moses pulled off.

What Moses accomplished, however, as incredible as it might have been, was nothing compared to what God pulled off. Think about it: The Lord rescued two million Israelites out of slavery in Egypt through the ten plagues and the Red Sea crossing—in the Top Ten of All Time Great Miracles, you would agree. He guided his people through forty years in the barren wasteland of the Sinai Desert, keeping them fed, watered, clothed, protected and loved. He formed a rebellious, complaining, sin-prone, dull and disorganized people into his own holy nation—the only people still a nation from that ancient time until this very day. So if you think Moses was impressive, wait til you get a load of God! He outdid himself with Israel!

Now as Moses, in his final act, recounts those mighty acts of God along with God’s requirements for his people to remain his chosen, holy nation, he reminds them of God’s top ten laws—what we call the Ten Commandments. This is the second time Moses has publically preached them, and right at the top of the top ten, not only literally but strategically, is rule number one:

I am God! You exist only because of my mighty acts. Now you must worship, serve and obey none other than me.

It is true that if the Israelites, and by extension, you and I, honored this first commandment that we would need none of the others. We would never lie, never hurt our neighbor, always be faithful to our spouse, never lust, gripe, swear or sin in any other way. Get this one right and you will be righteous. But we don’t. We violate this one early and often.

How so? Whenever we put what we want ahead of what God demands, we sin. And by that we are worshipping ourselves rather than only him. And the big three violations of that throughout history, including today, including your history and mine, is our push for indefatigable quest for money, our insatiable lust for sexual pleasure and our unquenchable thirst for power. Yep, independence from our dependence on his daily provision (money), satisfying our desire for pleasure outside of his game rules (sex outside of marriage) and desire for power, control and recognition (the desire for fame, even fifteen minutes of it) are clearly violations of the basic rule: thou shalt have no other gods before me.

If we were truly intelligent beings, we would stop and ask ourselves how our unstoppable thirst for money, sex and power are working out for us. We would look at the wreckage of those who have crashed and burned in the ditch of wealth, or more accurately, the insatiable love of it. We would see the ruined lives of those who have lost everything for the momentary pleasure of an illicit sexual encounter. We would stop, drop and roll when we look at too many cautionary tales of the self-immolation of those who couldn’t handle flame of fame—pastors, politicians, athletes, celebrities who lost it all, or took their own lives—because they were not built to handle worship. No one is.

Whenever we give ourselves in word, thought or deed to something other than God, we have broken all the rules by breaking the first one. And it won’t work out very well. It never does.

That’s the dark side, but there is a bright side incomparably brighter than the false light of sin when we put and keep God first in our lives: provision, pleasure and power in the purest form imaginable. God fully satisfies, his blessings never fades and our worship of him alone produces eternal fruit that is always in season.

Now when Moses delivered the Ten Commandments, the people responded the way all people who have been rescued by God should. They said to Moses, “come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.” (Deuteronomy 5:27) Then Moses, literally speaking for God, responded to them

The Lord heard the request you made to me. And he said, “I have heard what the people said to you, and they are right. Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever.” (Deuteronomy 5:28-29)

Sin calls us to put other gods before the One who alone is God and worthy of our worship. Those gods—money, sex and power—promise pleasure but only and always deliver untold pain. The Living God promises unlimited provision, holy pleasure and eternal significance—prosperity forever! And this God never breaks a promise.

Your God says to you, “I am God, your God, who brought you out of bondage, bought you out of sin. So no other gods, only me!”

Going Deeper: Money, sex and power…by pursuing these are you putting you before God? That is worshiping other gods. So repent and return to the God who alone deserves your worship.

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How To Distinguish Yourself

SYNOPSIS: To live under God’s undeserved blessings, you have one, and only one thing, that you must do: obey! It is that simple—not easy, because of your fallen nature—but simple. And by your loving and loyal obedience to God’s law, not only will you turn on the spigot of grace for your life, you will distinguish yourself among those who watch your life; you will provoke them to envy by the amazing life you lead. Don’t believe me? Then believe God, who said, “Obey my commands completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’” (Deuteronomy 4:6)

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 4:5-10

Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today? But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren….‘Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.’

Just as God called Israel to be his people, he has chosen you, too. God has called you out from the world and redeemed you as his very own. He has distinguished you and set apart among the people of earth as holy unto him. And his intended purpose is to pour out uncommon blessing upon you as a way to provoke the world to reach out to him. They will admire you and desire him. Think about God’s plan for you: you are distinctly blessed!

Now to live under that undeserved blessing, you have one, and only one thing, that you must do: obey! It is that simple—not easy, because of your fallen nature—but simple. And by your loving and loyal obedience to God’s law, not only will you turn on the spigot of grace for your life, you will distinguish yourself among those who watch your life; you will provoke them to envy by the amazing life you lead. Don’t believe me? Then believe God, who said,

Obey my commands completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ (Deuteronomy 4:6)

Your life of obedience will be translated to the world as wisdom and intelligence. What a witness! You don’t have to stand on the street corner with a sign that says “Turn or burn!” Just live a life of ruthless obedience and you will be attractive more than you realize.

Not only does God want your simple and sustained obedience, he wants you to live a life of obedience so winsomely that your children and grandchildren will embrace a lifestyle of obedience to God themselves. Through your life and from your lips, your divine calling is to reproduce the walk of obedience in the generations that spring from your DNA, because God wants to bless them, too. He wants to distinguish your posterity as his own. The fruit of authentic obedience is that it is sustainable and reproducible.

Of course, obedience is easier talked about than lived out. That is because not only does your sinful flesh recoil from it, but your soul’s enemy, Satan, continually and masterfully tempts you away from obedience. And then the world is there to partner with your sin nature and Satan to lure you into the seasonal pleasures of sin. The flesh, the devil and the world are an ever-present threat to your obedience. That is why Moses warned several times in Deuteronomy 4 about the drift into disobedience. And one of the more subtle drifts occurs when one of the aforementioned forces lure us into thinking that we know better than God, or that we can cut corners on complete obedience, or that God doesn’t really concern himself or care about little indiscretions. That is why Moses appealed,

Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you. (Deuteronomy 4:2)

Just obey. That is the sum and substance of the life that God can bless and the kind of witness that distinguished itself among the people of the world. Just obey. And the good news is, God himself is helping you to obey, for as you “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, God works in you to will and to do his good pleasure.

Imagine that: God helps you to work out what he has worked in. Now that is quite the deal, wouldn’t you agree? God helps you to help yourself!

So just obey!

Going Deeper: Obedience is simple, but not easy. So just ask God to help you, because he has promised to do just that!

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Passing The Baton

Send Your Influence Forward

SYNOPSIS: Whether you are a parent, a president or a pastor, you will be required to pass the baton of your leadership to a new generation. Take care in what you pass on and with how well you pass it. Don’t drop the baton. That day will get here sooner than you think, so make sure you are ready to send forward that which is worthy to live on!

The Journey// Focus: Deuteronomy 3:27-28

God said to Moses, “Go up to Pisgah Peak, and look over the Promised Land in every direction. Take a good look, but you may not cross the Jordan River. Instead, commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan. He will give them all the land you now see before you as their possession.”

It happens sooner or later—usually sooner than we expect: we come to the end of our leg of the race and have to pass the baton. It might be giving the keys to the family business to an adult child, turning over a ministry to a new leader, or passing on the patriarchal role due to advancing aged or declining health or the nearing of death.

Without fail, that day comes, maybe later, but more likely sooner. Just ask any person who has had to pass the baton! Talk to any elderly person and they will say, “I don’t know where the time went.” Perhaps the epitaph on one particular headstone says it best:

THIS IS WHAT I EXPECTED
BUT NOT SO SOON

Life is a baton pass, and so is the Kingdom of God. No one, no matter how great, how powerful, how successful, or how admired is indispensable. Just consider Moses. He was the greatest leader of all time—a man of impeccable character, unmatched power, incredible wisdom, organic humility, and closeness to God. He has a string of wins with no defeats to speak of. He had pulled off one of the greatest leadership feats of all time: he got two million plus slaves out of the clutches of the most powerful nation on earth, led them through a desert for forty years, keeping them fed, watered, organized and focused—and at the end of it all, his popularity would make any U.S. president drool with envy.

Yet the time came when God called him to give it up. He was at the end, and even though Moses personally wanted to continue on (“I pleaded with the Lord, ‘Please let me cross the Jordan to see the wonderful land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon mountains.’” Deuteronomy 3:23-25), God told him no. Moreover, God commissioned him to prepare his successor, and he was to prepare him in such a way that the new leader would achieve even greater success than Moses. Moses had done all the heavy lifting, yet Joshua would reap the reward.

By the way, that is not the only time in scripture we see this: David wanted to build a temple to the Lord, but God assigned him to prepare Solomon to achieve that marvelous feat. Jesus finished his ministry with just a handful of followers, yet he commissioned them to turn his kingdom into a force that would dominate the world. The Apostle Paul had grand designs to preach the gospel around the known world, but he came to his end in a Roman jail.

All of these examples of great leadership had something in common: they finished well by preparing others to take the baton and move the kingdom forward. Which brings me to a point: the greatness of your life is not so much in what you leave behind, but in what you send forward. Whether you are a parent, a president or a pastor, you will be required to pass the baton of your leadership to a new generation. Take care in what you pass on and with how well you pass it. Don’t drop the baton.

Yes, that day will get here sooner than you think. So make sure you are ready to send forward that which is worthy to live on!

Going Deeper: A very good but sobering exercise is to write your own epitaph or obituary in advance. The whole point of that activity is to make sure you live now as you wish to be remembered then.