The Way of All Flesh

It is interesting how in the course of life you come to have different memories that relate to certain passages of scripture. I was reading in Joshua 23 today and was reminded of my college years. In that chapter, Joshua is giving his farewell address to Israel in his old age as he prepares to die. He reminds them of all the Lord has done for them and warns them to be obedient to the Torah and to follow the Lord lest they lose the blessing of the Lord. As he nears the end of his sermon he says " I am about to go the way of all flesh..." in reference to his impending death.

Whenever I read that passage I laugh. How inappropriate!! How could I do such a thing? Of course, this is where my college years come into the story. As with most campuses, on warm spring days the girls would often put on their swim suits, some of them quite skimpy, and head out into the quad to sunbathe. There were 3 main housing quads-East, North and South-plus a few smaller dorms in the central campus area. There was only one co-ed dorm on campus in those days. South quad in particular had a number of girls-only dorms grouped together, and on sunny spring days that part of campus was thick with sunbathers. The Campus Crusade staff members spent most of their days going to various parts of campus to have one-on-one or small group discipleship meetings, and one of our staff would comment from time to time when heading that way on a warm day, 'Pray for me. I am about to go the way of all flesh!' I laughed then, and I still laugh now whenever I read that passage.

There is more than one 'way of all flesh'. We, as humans, share a great many frailties and temptations. While that isn't what Joshua was saying, the comment by our Crusade staff member was still a valid one. Just  as the fact of death reminds us of our human frailty, so did his comment! Even though I still laugh, it reminds me of the Truth nonetheless.