“Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left” (Josh 23:6).

At the end of the book in Joshua 23, Joshua urges the people of Israel to commit themselves to keeping the Torah of Moses. Not surprisingly, this emphasis on keeping the Torah is exactly where the book begins. There, God urges Joshua to keep the Torah of Moses and to meditate on it day and night (Josh 1:7-8). The importance of the Torah of Moses for the compositional strategy of book of Joshua is highlighted by means of this macrostructural inclusio (frame).

What I find most striking about this conclusion is the absence of any reference to Joshua’s appointment of a new leader to take his place. Instead, we find the elderly Joshua calling his people to follow the word of God. From start to finish, we can say that Joshua models the life of a person who is wholeheartedly devoted to the word of God. Joshua walked like Moses, talked like Moses, and acted like Moses because he meditated day and night on the Torah of Moses. And Joshua longs for the people of Israel to follow in his Mosaic footsteps.

Do the people whom I am leading want to read their Bibles more or less because of me?

While leadership succession is certainly important, the mark of a truly godly leader is not their ability to appoint the best candidate to take their place. Rather, it’s their passion and commitment to pass their own personal love for the word of God onto the people within their sphere of influence. And so the question every leader (including parents) must ask themselves is this: Do the people whom I am leading want to read their Bibles more or less because of me?

“For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well” (2 Tim 1:5). “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 3:14-15).