“But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him;
for he shall go over before his people, and he shall cause them to inherit the
land which you will see.”
Deuteronomy 3:28
We each have a job to do for the
Lord, and each of us need to be encouraged and strengthened from time to time.
Without the encouragement and strengthening of our brothers and sisters in the
Lord from time to time, we may get discouraged and feel like we should give up.
Moses was a man of God. Even though he was a man of God, he was forbidden to enter
the promised land. God had called Joshua to lead them to the promised land
instead. Moses could see the land, but he could not enter it. Moses knew that
Joshua was to lead them there, and Moses was supposed to be the one to
encourage and strengthen him.
I once heard a story about the
famous baseball legend, Lou Gehrig. When he was first starting his baseball
career, he went into a slump and almost quit. One of his friends heard about it
and went to him. Lou Gehrig poured his heart out to his friend. His friend
listened. After a while, his friend began to encourage Lou by telling him that
he was a good hitter. He told him that every good hitter gets into slumps from
time to time. This was okay. He told him that when you get into a slump
eventually you will out of it. The next day, Lou started hitting the ball well
again. Over the next eleven games he had twenty-two hits. Six of those hits
were home runs. From there, his career took off.
Lou had a good friend. Thank God
Lou had that friend. That friend made a difference in the outcome of Lou’s life.
Because of that one friend’s encouragement, Lou got out of his slump and he
even went on to become one of the greatest ballplayers that ever lived. Who
around you could use you as a friend today? Who could you encourage, strengthen,
and build up in their most holy of faith? Ask the Lord to bring someone to mind
if no one comes to mind. Then reach out to them. They aren’t meant to walk their
walk alone. Your loving care and concern for them may just be what they need.
Who knows, you may even be blessed as well.
Lord, use us all to bless and encourage the body of Christ.
Reveal to us anyone that may be in a slump spiritually. Give us an opportunity
to listen to them and to give them words of life. Deliver them from their slump
and move them onward. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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