Cling to God not Bling

UV 3508/10000 Cling to God not Bling



But you are to cling to the Lord your God, just as you have done to this day.



Joshua 23 v 8





These are the words of advice to the people of Israel at the end of his life when he was advanced in years. He exhorts them to remember how the Lord had delivered them from their enemies. We are to cling to the Lord as a leech clings to the human body. By default, sin clings to us like a leech but the word of God acts as the salt to remove the clutch of sin in our lives. We must use the Word as a sword or sharp weapon to cut the remaining tentacles of sin in our lives. We should depend on the Lord and not the world or anything or anyone in it to sustain and develop ourselves. We should understand the depth and breadth of God’s love and rejoice in it. We should often recall the goodness of the Lord in our lives so far. We should often remember, testify and thank the Lord for the awesome deeds He has done in our lives to this day.





The Lord fought on behalf of Joshua and enabled him to defeat 31 kings before he led the Israelites into the promised land. He keeps us likewise under the umbrella of His protection. Not one of His promises to us will ever fail. Joshua reviewed the history of Israel and how the Lord had led them from victory to victory, strength to strength. On the contrary, we should remember the other edge of the word- we face the anger and judgement of God if we cling to evil, if we cling to our own stubborn ways. Despite the warning and exhortation of Joshua at the fag end of his life, the people of Israel did not heed his words. They turned to their own ways.



Today, the world like Israel cling to its icons of various domains- sports, films, the glam world, politics and so on. It has forgotten or ignored God. People are too busy to spend time in the presence of the Lord. They do not even spare a thought for Him in the midst of their daily schedules. Hence, we are facing the other edge of the sword- pestilence, death, disruption of our normal life and routine, fear and despair. Covid- 19 has demolished all these "golden calves" or idols we have erected for ourselves. At this juncture, we need to heed Joshua’s call to cling to the Lord. St Paul writes, "Cling to what is good, let go of what is evil." It implies that God is not going to be displeased, rather He approves when we cling to whatever is good in this world. The other synonym Paul uses for cling is cleave. The same word "cleave' is used in the context of marriage. The bride is exhorted to cleave to her jusband and leave her own parents. We are to cleave to Christ and leave the world.