envelop spinner search close plus arrow-right arrow-left facebook twitter

Everyday Saints Devotional 56

by David Joynt on February 26, 2022

Everyday Saints Devotional 56

DEUTERONOMY 31:23 | 23 Then the Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and bold, for you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I promised them; I will be with you.”

The former coach of the AZ Cardinals, Bruce Arians, now coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was famous for a folksy euphemism “No risk it, no biscuit”! In other words risk and reward are related. Excessively conservative decisions minimize both risk and reward.

Moses’ guided tour of leadership must have reinforced this lesson for Joshua. Joshua was entering the land of Canaan with its foreign occupants and fortified cities. But it could not become the Promised Land without a conquest, and the conquest was risky. Moses took a risk to leave a safe job shepherding and led a revolt. He risked again and again in the crises of the wilderness. Sometimes only bold faith, carefully discerning God’s great direction, will do.

Are you risk averse?

In your life, how have risk and reward been connected?

Tags: risk, reward

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

More from Pastor Joynts Devotionals

return to Pastor Joynts Devotionals