[Grandchildren, What a wonderful choice WHEN WE CHOOSE To serve the Lord ALL THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES!]
“…if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE…” (Josh. 24:15)
[Joshua well knew that any service to God, that was NOT FREE AND VOLUNTARY could be only with pretense and insincerity, and that GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER. He calls upon us to make our choice, for GOD HIMSELF WILL NOT FORCE US – we must serve him with all our hearts if we served him at all. As for Joshua and his family, he confirms, their choice was already secure, for they had made the Lord God Almighty their choice.]
“Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel.” (Josh. 24:31)
[LET’S CONSIDER THESE THREE ASPECTS OF FAITH:]
[COMMITMENT TO GOD:] “…as for me and my house, WE WILL serve the LORD” (Josh. 24:15). [Joshua was completely committed to the Lord. We must see ourselves in this kind of commitment!]
[COMPROMISE CONCERNING GOD: Represented by the elders that served after Joshua who only served God in part; they served the Lord when his purposes served their own. For example, they were given the task of cleaning out the remaining groups of pagan worship in the Promised Land. Instead of destroying them as commanded by God, they compromised on God’s commands. They set a pattern of serving god only in part, only when it was convenient for them. Do we want this kind of “part time” commitment?]
[CONFLICT WITH GOD: Represented by the children of the elders that served after Joshua. Joshua was completely faithful, the elders compromised and were only somewhat faithful, because of this compromise, and their children were set up for complete rejection! When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD or the work which He had done for Israel. This is what “no” commitment looks like]
“there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD…the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt…And they provoked the LORD to anger.” (Judges 2:10-12)
[This is the big problem of today, backsliding, and the end of the pathway for the wonderful promises of God. So, WE MUST KEEP OURSELVES IN GOD’S LOVE!!! This is the kind of commitment we must choose to see ourselves in!] “CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE…”
Be blessed as you praise The Lord, knowing that:
MAKE THIS COMMITMENT: AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSEHOLD, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD!
Notice it says: […We must make the choice to serve our Heavenly Father with our all!!!!] That’s for you: Stephanie, Ethan, Camden, Olivia and Aidan