"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond 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." - Joshua 24:15
As you can see in the image attached to this post, today we’ll be focusing on the phrase, “choose this day whom you will serve…” This verse comes to us from the Old Testament in the first book following the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Torah).
Joshua’s fatherly model is similar to that of Abrahams in Genesis 18:19. It was his desire for his family and for himself to serve the Lord, and not to serve any false gods.
“For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” – Genesis 18:19.
Not only did Joshua command his household to follow the one and only God, but he also called others throughout Israel to do so as well. This is pretty bold, and something that I wish that we saw more of today. As Christians we’re to keen on helping ourselves, we’re too comfortable with going to church on Sunday and then feeling all good about ourselves, and then during the week doing absolutely nothing to further the kingdom of God. Not only did Joshua call out those across Israel, but we see just a few verses later, that they committed themselves to serve the Lord as well. This is incredible!
“And the people said to Joshua, ‘No, but we will serve the LORD.'” – Joshua 24:21
I want you to think about the impact that your faith can have on those around you. The words you say, the actions you take, the way that you carry yourself. It could be something so small that you don’t even notice you’re doing it, that might make someone ask themselves, “what makes them different?” “Why do they carry themselves that way?” And all it takes is one conversation out of your day to change someone else’s eternity.
Our words are extremely powerful. Our actions are extremely powerful. It’s our duty as Christians to be the ambassadors of Christ to those that don’t know Him. I want to urge each and every one of you to pray about who you could witness to, or who you could be a positive influence for. Asking your neighbor to go with you to church might feel weird and might make you nervous, but that one Sunday could change their eternity. One question is powerful. Our faith is powerful.
