Joshua and his generation failed to follow through
and fully obey God’s command to drive out all the
inhabitants of the land of Canaan.  But when God
confronted them with their sin, they repented and
rededicated themselves to the Lord.  The nation of
Israel went on to serve the Lord all the days of Joshua. 

Judges 2:7 And the people served the LORD all
the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders
that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great
works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.

It is possible to impact our generation for good. 
We cannot guarantee how long our influence might
last.  We cannot even guarantee how long we will last. 
But we can choose to do what is right and be a force
for good in our generation.  We can stem the tide of
evil for ourselves and our children.  That is what
Joshua and his generation did.

We say that we are troubled by the direction of
our country.  We say that we are worried about the
future for our children and grandchildren.  But are
we sorry enough to repent of our own sin and choose
to do things differently, to do things right?  There is
a sorrow of this world that works death.  We need
godly sorrow that works repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10).
The hope for our generation lies in our willingness
to repent of our sin and do what is right. 

The book of Judges is a difficult
book to read. Though it contains
happy moments, overall, it is very
dark, and as you progress through
the book, it gets worse and worse. 

Twice it says in the book of Judges,
“In those days there was no king in
Israel, but every man did that which
was right in his own eyes.” (Judges
17:6; 21:25) How did the nation that
received God’s law at Mount Sinai
end up in such a terrible place? It
happened because they decided to
forsake God and follow idols. 

Before Joshua died, he charged
the people, “And if it seem 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 24:15) Joshua
and his generation chose to serve
the Lord. But the next generation
decided to serve false gods. “And
they forsook the LORD God of
their fathers, which brought them
out of the land of Egypt, and followed
other gods.” (Joshua 2:13).

Every individual must choose for
themselves who they will follow. Either
they will follow the true God, the God
of the Bible, or they will follow a false
god, doing whatever is right in their
own eyes. The book of Judges shows
us the disastrous consequences of
forsaking the Lord and following false
gods. The consequences will be painful
if we stray from God and do what we
think is right instead of what God says
is right. 

One of my earliest memories is from when I was in preschool. I was four years old and attending Hickory Grove Presbyterian Preschool, where my mom was one of the teachers. Occasionally we would watch movies projected onto the block wall of the basement, and one day we watched the story of “The Little Train Who Could.” I remember feeling sad for the train as his friends made fun of him. I remember feeling anxious as he finally had a chance to prove himself by hauling that big load up that hill. I remember cheering him on in my mind as he chugged, “I think I can, I think I can…” until he finally crested the top. It is
a wonderful story to teach children the values of determination and perseverance. 

But there is a downside to a story like that. The truth is that there are some things we cannot do, no matter how hard we try or think we can. If we stubbornly push ahead anyway, insisting that we can do something when it is impossible for us, we will become frustrated, angry, and eventually, give up altogether. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual things. Because we are sinners, there are some things that we cannot do on our own. We cannot save ourselves.
No amount of effort will ever be enough to merit salvation or pay off our sin debt. We cannot sanctify ourselves either. Some people teach that salvation is by grace, but sanctification is by works. That is a lie. We are sanctified the same way we are saved: by grace through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Instead of always saying, “I think I can,” we need to learn when to say, “I know I can’t.”