The word religion has a bad reputation. Truly, religion that offers no change of heart is bad, but there is religion that changes a man’s heart before God.
Far too many people have forsaken the simplicity which is in Christ and have instead pursued the complexity and labour of religion (2 Corinthians 11:3).
As the people had honoured the Lord, they had honoured Moses. When Moses placed his honour upon Joshua, he did so in order to encourage the people’s obedience and loyalty toward Joshua. Moses wanted the same loyalty that had been directed toward him now directed toward Joshua. God’s people could have risen up against Joshua thinking that he had not accomplished enough to merit their loyalty. Yet, the people respected the fact that Moses had directly placed his own honour upon his minister Joshua. The people emphatically accepted Moses’ message as reflected by their answer to Joshua: “According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses” (Joshua 1:17).
