Deuteronomy 3:28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.
Are you keeping up with your New Year’s resolutions? Have you read a book a week? Have you lost fifty pounds? Have you done a hundred pushups every evening? Have you kept up with all the grand ambitions you had regarding this year? It may be that you don’t have New Year’s resolutions at all, but I would suppose I am not addressing anyone who does not have some sort of vision of what they would like to see in the future. It may be grand or it may be mundane, but everyone has some sort of goal for what they want to accomplish in the days ahead.
In Deuteronomy 3, Moses is recounting the leading of God and the giving of God in the lives of the Israelites. He says, “The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it.” He says, “Ye shall not fear them [the inhabitants of Canaan]: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.” Then Moses recounts God’s speaking about Joshua, the man who would lead Israel into the land of Canaan after Moses was dead.
Deuteronomy 3:28 says, “But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him, for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.” Moses was the visionary. He was the one who could literally see the land that God would give them to inherit, but he was not the man who would lead Israel in.
That gives us a very important lesson for life: it is a short-sighted vision that does not include people as well as goals. Moses had been given a promise by God. They were going to be given a land by God. He could see the land that others would one day inherit, but what Moses had to be mindful of was more than the land, it was the people. The people would carry on the work that God had originally given to Moses. The purposes of God are greater than any one person or generation. Giving responsibility, or charge, and courage to others is the only way to inherit what you see.
The Israelites were to “charge Joshua,” that is to give him an assignment. But, they were also to give him the responsibility and encourage him, to put courage in him. God had told them not to fear the giants, the walls, the inhabitants, and soldiers in the land. No, they were to be of great courage. Moses was part of that good courage. Moses was to encourage Joshua. He was to put courage in Joshua.
If you have grand visions for your church, business, or home, but it does not include investing in other people and allowing them to “buy in” to what God wishes through you as a people, you are missing it. It is very often the case that anything worth doing will exceed the lifetime of any one person. That was certainly the case of Israel going into Canaan. So today, have great goals and grand visions, but never forget that it is a short-sighted vision that does not include other people as well as goals.