Joshua 24:15 (NIV) “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable
to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,
whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will
serve the Lord.”
Choices… life is full of them. When you are faced with
making a choice (a decision) what do you do? Do you spend time (hours, days,
months, years) analyzing the pros and cons of the choice you have to make? Or
are you more impulsive in your decision making? For me, it depends on the
decision I have to make. I must admit that I do tend to be a bit impulsive when it
comes to decisions. Let me just tell you, this characteristic has not served me well and has taken me
down roads I would have never imagined being on in the first place.
There is one choice that is so important it needs to be made
TODAY. Whom will you follow? On this
earth there are two powerful forces seeking to influence our choice…Satan and
God.
Satan appeals to the flesh using pride and power to lure us into his “promise
of pleasure.” The “pleasure” Satan “promises” may seem harmless and fun but, in
the end, will lead to eternal death.
God seeks to lead us in truth and uses the motivational
force of love and the promise of eternal life. The Message (MSG) paraphrase
just about sums this point up for us in John 3:16-18 “This is how much God
loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so
that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and
lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to
point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to
put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who
refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without
knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the
one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.”
Joshua’s message in Joshua 24:15 is clear, “Choose today who
you will serve.” In the 24th chapter, Joshua recounted the history
of God’s faithfulness to the Israelites. He reminds them of what they
witnessed with their own eyes in Egypt. He also reminds them of God’s
provision and protection from the time Abraham was called to “Go to a land I
will show you” (Gen 12:1) and promised he would have “more descendants than
he could count” (Gen 15:5) up to their departure from the bonds of slavery in
Egypt.
Did you notice that he didn’t mention their sin or
disobedience at all?
The same is true for us today. “God didn’t go to all the
trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger.” We do a good
enough job of that ourselves up based on “mistakes” we’ve made. He reminds us of
His love and His desire to be with us forever (see John 3:16 – 18 above). When
we choose to accept Christ’s redeeming work on Calvary, our sin debt is forever
cancelled and we can walk forgiven and free in God’s grace and mercy.
So today, whom will you choose to follow?
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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