“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go.  This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it.  For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful.” – Joshua 1:7-8

In the book of Joshua, God provides a story of the successful life of integrity, as the Hebrews entered the Promised Land.  It would do us good as Christian lawyers to learn some of the same valuable lessons about having a successful life in the law.

Lesson #1 – Remember Who You Are

After God miraculously brings the people over the Jordan—into hostile territory, by the way—he commands them to stop.  Stop thinking about conquest, stop thinking about setting up shop, just stop and remember.

As the kings of the surrounding city-states heard of the miracle of the Jordan, they were afraid.  It was time to strike, right? No. God was not finished with reminding the people of his work in their lives and their relationship to him. On the eve of one of the greatest military campaigns in ancient history, God commanded Joshua to disable his army.  All the men were to be circumcised. Due to their disobedience, they had not been circumcised in the wilderness, and it was time to mark them as participants in the covenant with their God. Not only that, but the people were to celebrate Passover for only the third time, to remember who they were as God’s delivered people, and who their deliverer is.

Before getting to the business of conquest and possession, God set the priorities: you are to know who you are in light of who I am.

Who you are is more important than what you do, whether in law, at home, or in church.  Indeed those things can only flow out of who you are.  And our identity is wrapped up in our deliverer and his story from creation to redemption and restoration.  If we get this part wrong, our priorities in law practice will be wrong.

What do you do that reminds you of who you are in light of who your deliverer is? Are you seeking to know his word, as he commanded Joshua? Are we engaged in the disciplines that remind us of our smallness—and our dignity—in the love of Christ? As we do these things, surely we will see our pride for what it is. Surely our pursuit of success through status and pleasing the world will stop. We should remember every day who we are in light of who Jesus is.

CLS Prayer

Lord, please help me to take time every day and remember who You are and who I am in light of You. Help me to remember that you are my deliverer and my conqueror in all areas of my life. And help me to be thankful for all your blessings in my life. Amen.

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(Adapted from Redeeming Law by Michael Schutt)