Choose Today

Choose Today–December 29, 2024

Joshua issues a challenge to the people of Israel. He tells them that they need to “fear the Lord” or have reverence for Him. In other words, they are to submit to His Law that He had given them through Moses. They are to obey the commands of God by loving Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They are to follow God and do the things that He would want them to do. He says that they are to “serve Him” with sincerity and in faithfulness. He challenges them to be consistent with this and they will find rest and blessing in the land.

 

To do this, he challenges them to put away the gods that their fathers had served in the land of Egypt. Who were these gods? They were Ra, the sun god, considered the creator and supreme deity. They were Osiris, the god of the afterlife and resurrection. They were Isis, the goddess of magic, motherhood and fertility. They were Horus, the king’s god.

 

They were also challenged to put away the gods worshipped “beyond the river.” These would have included Anu, the sky god; Enlil, the god of air and storms; Ishtar, the goddess of love, war, and fertility; and Marduk, the god of creation and order.

 

They were further challenged to put away the gods of the Amorites, whose land they had just conquered. These include the god Baal, the warrior god associated with rain and fertility; Asherah, the mother goddess, often worshipped alongside Baal; El, the chief god of Canaanite worship; Anat, sister of Baal, goddess of war and fertility; and Dagon, the god of grain and the harvest.

 

But you might wonder, “What in the story of the nation of Israel would have led them to believe that they should only honor and serve the ONE God? Well, let’s take a short trip down memory lane with the nation of Israel, shall we?

 

They were slaves in Egypt when God told them to put the blood of a year-old lamb on the doorframes of their homes so that the angel of death would pass over their homes and strike their firstborn. This led them to leave Egypt with plunder beyond their wildest dreams. They walk to the Red Sea with the Egyptian army hot on their trail, but God allows them all to walk right through on dry ground. He gives the Law to Moses and Moses gives it to them. They set up the Tabernacle in the wilderness to worship God. The pillar of fire at night and the pillar of cloud by day to represent the presence of God.

 

The spies head into the land of Canaan and see that it is a good land but get scared of the people. Only two people believe they can conquer the land, and those are the only two from that generation who are left. They wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Then they enter the Promised Land with the Jordan River stopping its flow a mile from where they would cross. Jericho, Caleb, the other tribes of Israel taking their land and their place in the nation that God had given them. This is the story that God was writing, and the next chapter was about to begin.

 

So, Joshua challenges the people to put away the false gods to worship the One True God.

 

And so, we come to the end of this chapter of our stories. 2024 is three days away from being complete. And with that in mind, I want to issue a similar challenge to you.

 

OUTLINE

  1. Who are we serving?
    1. Other “gods”?
      1. The god of pride
      2. The god of convenience
  • The god of comfort
  1. The god of success
  2. The god of fame
  3. The god of stuff
  1. Ourselves?
    1. Is it about us?
    2. Is it about what we want?
  • Is it about what we have?
  1. The Lord ALONE!?
    1. Does God hold the place of preeminence?
    2. Is God first in our lives?
  • Or do other things crowd Him out?
  1. How are we serving?
    1. Sincerity
      1. This means that we serve God because He is asking us to serve
      2. It means we are serving God for the right reasons
        1. Not for glory for us
        2. Not for the name of CBC
        3. Not because of a challenge from the pastor or elder or deacon
        4. We serve because we have been called by God Himself to serve
      3. Faithfulness
        1. We put our best foot forward each time
        2. We don’t take “days off”
  • We don’t put God to the side when things are going well
  1. Singularity
    1. God alone!
    2. Not God +
      1. our works
      2. our baptism
      3. our bank account
      4. our spouse
      5. our kids
      6. our ministry
      7. devotions
      8. phones
      9. Bible Studies
      10. Small groups
      11. Country
      12. NOTHING ELSE!!!
  • Why are we serving?
    1. Because of what God has done
      1. God has saved us
      2. God has provided for us
  • God has done miracles
  1. God has given us His Word
  2. God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ
  1. Because of who God is
    1. Savior
    2. Creator
  • Sustainer
  1. Giver of every good and perfect gift
  2. Counselor
  3. Mighty
  • Everlasting
  • Our Father
  1. The Prince of Peace
  2. And we could go on and on and on

 

Joshua once again tells them to put away their other gods and serve the Lord, God alone! They’re response in verse 24 is where I want our challenge to come from today. Here is what it says, “The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey!”

 

THAT is the theme of our 2025, folks. THAT is where I want my life to be when we get to this time in 2025, that I can look back that last 365 chapters of my story and say, I have served the Lord my God and I have obeyed every word He said to me!

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