Joshua 24:15: “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

April 14th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This declaration of the old, warrior-leader Joshua reverberates through the hallways of time and speaks loudly to us now in the 21st century. Joshua was a retiring leader who had been thinking about what he could say and do to make his last public declaration unequivocal. This man of God had come to a decision years ago but was now making it public so that others might understand his successful personal life and follow his example. Of course he realized he couldn’t control what others chose to do, but he knew what he and his family would do. Inside their home, this family had been and would continue to be one that served God.

This kind of public pronouncement confronts a cowardly way of thinking that permeates our culture. Many today would struggle with how Joshua included his family in his declaration of intent. Shouldn’t his wife and kids be allowed to choose their own religious pathways? While it is possible to abuse the position of spiritual leadership in families, in our day, most families desperately need the leader of the home to stand up and say, “We will worship God.”  Husbands and wives, as well as single parents, need to take a stand for their family’s spiritual health. Family leaders need to show leadership, making a commitment to take action. Some of us reading this need to be the kind of spiritual leader Joshua was 3200 years ago.

Another part of this verse seems to scream out to this generation as well, “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” Choice is a God-given capacity that we must exercise constantly, continually, every day. We are confronted daily with choices of who and what we will serve. Songwriter Bob Dylan wrote years ago, ”You’re gonna have to serve somebody.” It’s true. Who will you chose to serve today?

“LORD, we desire You. Forgive us for faltering and making bad choices. Today, we chose You.”