Joshua 23-34

March 12

Joshua 23-24

We all have choices we have to make. Some choices are easy, some are more difficult. Every choice we make means we decide against something else. Joshua is calling the Israelites to choose who they will serve. They have served gods that their ancestors worshiped  They have served the gods of the people in the land they conquered served. God has delivered them from slavery. He has brought them into the land He had promised their ancestor Abraham. He has provided for them and protected them, but they have not been faithful to Him.

As Joshua nears his end here on earth he challenges the Israelites to make a choice. We cannot serve God and gods. Jesus said; “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." (Matthew 6:24, NIV)  We cannot half way serve God. Either He is over everything or He is not really our God. God wants all of us. We try to balance between what God wants and what this world tells us is best, but God is not looking for us to balance, He wants all of us.

We have a choice to make. We can choose to serve God or we can choose to serve the gods of this world. The Israelites said they would serve God, but they could not do it. Joshua warned them; “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins." (Joshua 24:19, NIV) The people said they would serve God, but they did not. They followed the gods of the other nations because they did not fully trust God to take care of them.

We have something the Israelites did not have. God has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to live the lives He called us to live. He has given us new hearts. "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." (Ezekiel 36:25-27, NIV)

"Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”" (Joshua 24:15, NIV)

Whom have you chosen?