When someone is determined they have set in motion a quest for something and they have made up their mind that nothing will detour them from their quest. If you watch young children, you can pick up on their determination quickly. Some will desire something and if not successful after a few tries they will move on to something else. Yet there are others who don’t give up. They are so focused that no matter what you do they continue to pursue their desire. We may call this strong-willed or stubborn but if this determination is guided by godly wise parents these children can grow up to be great leaders for the Lord. However, we all need to cultivate our determination. We can strengthen it by knowing the truths about God. It is easier to press toward something when we know the King of the Universe is helping us and exhorting us to continue. We need to be determined in our desire to glorify God.
Joshua was a great example of a determined person for God. The Israelites had been wishy-washy people that were God’s chosen people. They would be moving forward with God, experiencing His presence while enjoying His blessings, but soon they would get comfortable and lax in their walk with Him. Time after time they became ungrateful and began to mummer and complain about what God was doing in their lives.
Over and over, they would stray away from God, and God would allow their enemy to defeat them because of sin in their lives. When Joshua became their leader, he became fed up with their selfish attitudes and sinful nature. He took a stand for God in Joshua 24:14-15. He reminded them of who God was, and the way He had always taken care of them. He encouraged them to serve God in sincerity and truth, to put away their false gods from Egypt, and to serve the LORD. Then, determined in his heart and mind to do what was right, he made them make a choice. His statement to them was, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:14-15 “Now, therefore, fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seems evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua faced many who didn’t feel the way he did about God, but he was determined to stand for God even if he had to stand alone. If we are determined to follow God, we must also have the attitude Joshua had.
The word determination comes from the Latin words, “de” and “terminare.” It means to completely terminate all other options. We are to have a single-minded focus.
We must first find out what pleases God. We find out by studying and following the commands God has already set out in scripture. Paul made it clear in Galatians 1:10 that his desire was to please God not men. That should be our desire also.
Galatians 1:10 “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”
We need to guard our hearts against anything that could cause our determination to waver. We mustn’t let down our guard and allow ourselves to be desensitized to the views of the world. We must be steadfast and unmovable. When we approach our faith with a steadfast unmovable determination there is nothing that can keep us from living for God. We can be strong and of good courage with no reason to fear or feel dismayed. With God first in our lives, He will be leading us and directing our steps. One day when we stand before Him our determination will be rewarded with a home in Heaven with Him.
Proverbs 4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
I Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD, thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
