Whom Will You Serve?

May 1

Joshua 24

Psalm 53

Proverbs 12:17-18

Luke 19:28-48

Whom Will You Serve?

“Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness.  Throw away the gods your ancestors worshipped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt and serve the Lord.  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 River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.  But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  Joshua 24:14-15 NIV

In the NIV the first word in this passage is “now.”  In several other translations it is the word “therefore.”  Whenever you see the word “therefore” you should always look back at the passage before it to see what the “therefore” is “there for.”  Joshua had given a farewell speech to the leaders of the tribes of Israel and now had assembled all the tribes of Israel together to address them one last time before he died.  This is his dying declaration.  It is the thing he wants to leave them with and the most important thing he wants them to know.    He knows he will soon die and go to be with his Heavenly Father, so he is using this opportunity to give them his last words of advice.  He has recounted for them the things that God has done for them reminding them of the faithfulness and love of their God and now he is drawing a line in the sand.  He is saying, “I have made my choice. I choose to serve the Lord.  I have seen His power and experienced His protection.  I know He is the one true God and I choose to serve Him and follow Him only.”  He tells the Israelites that they must make a choice.  They cannot continue to blend into the crowd, to be swayed by the culture and religions around them.  They must make a choice.  They cannot continue to serve two masters.

We face the same choice.  It is much easier to blend in, and be swayed by our culture and popular opinion, than to stand up and choose to follow God.  We cannot serve two masters.  We must follow Him wholeheartedly and faithfully.  Failure to make a choice is the same as choosing to follow the world.  Our choice is between Jesus and any other path.  “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  John 14:6 (NIV) Neglect and inattention will inevitably lead us down another path.  Choose for yourself this day whom you will serve.