After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

--Parallel verses:
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬-‭14‬
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

In the movie, The Patriot (which depicts the Revolutionary War), with Mel Gibson, there is a very compelling scene. When the American colonial troops seemed to be conquered, they started to retreat. Benjamin Martin, one of the Colonels in the Army, grabbed the American Flag from the flag-bearer who was retreating, at great personal peril to his life. He grabbed this flag and ran into the British army to gain the high ground. Once on the high ground, he began waving the American flag to rally the troops. And all the time on this journey he shouted a very compelling command: “HOLD THE LINE!”

Today marks a historic day in the United States of America. We are inaugurating a President who skipped a term and now comes into office with both the popular vote and the electoral college vote. And he has several former members of the opposition party in his cabinet. I believe he is trying to bring us together. He is the survivor of one assassination attempt and he has defended Christian values in his last term.

Our country has changed significantly in the quality of its moral fiber in the past 12-16 years. Many of our freedoms have been eroded. However the tide seems to be changing and Christian values are starting to take ground.

We need to HOLD THE LINE of faith in our hearts and not be polluted by the evil schemes of this world. And we need to HOLD THE LINE of faith in our country, and not be ashamed to proclaim the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

He is Sovereign, he is mighty, and he is loving and just. We cannot water down our values or compromise our allegiance and still represent his holiness. We must stand for the truth, hold the line of the gospel, and surge like Mel Gibson did in The Patriot. We must surge and waive the flag of righteousness and truth. Not because we are good on our own, but because we are forgiven saints who have submitted to a perfect and risen Savior.

The Apostle Paul describes this type of pursuit, persistence, and courage in our parallel verses. He says he wants to “know Christ”. He did not say he wants to know a lot about him, or know people who know him. He longs to know his heart, what weighs on it, and to know Jesus’ will for his life.

He uses these active verbs to describe his pursuit of knowing Christ: “press on”, “take hold”, and “straining towards”. This is an all-out, maximum effort type of faith. There is no turning back. In fact he says this, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Later in Joshua’s life, when he was retiring from his leadership role and giving his final instructions, he told the people this: “Now FEAR THE LORD AND SERVE HIM WITH ALL FAITHFULNESS. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSEHOLD, we will serve the Lord.” (‭‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭14‬-‭15‬, emphasis mine)

Here Joshua is calling his people and their leaders to HOLD THE LINE, to stand firm in the faith and plant the flag. And today, Jesus calls on us to do the same. Let’s HOLD THE LINE, my friends. No matter the hardship or challenges facing us, our Savior and Lord is greater than them all. HOLD THE LINE!

Lord, swell up the ranks of spiritual flag-bearers in our country in the name of Jesus Christ. May we surge into enemy territory as you lead us, and encourage and compel others to follow you wholeheartedly as we go. May we not shy away from the truth and become irrelevant in our faith. Fill us with courage to take spiritual ground this year, and to hold the line of truth in love!