Daily Devotions

Josh 24:15-19 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;
17 For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
18 And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our God.
19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
KJV
Chapter 24 of the book that carries his name contains the last words of Joshua. Here is the man that God chose to follow Moses and lead the people into the Promised Land old and now ready to die. Joshua has one last challenge for the people, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve”. This comes in large part because of what Joshua witnessed, because of what Joshua saw as the people came out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, complained over and over again before Moses and God, refused to enter the Promised Land, wondered in the wilderness those 40 years, then did not fully drive the enemy out of the land. Joshua watched over and over again as these people fell short of what God wanted them to do, so this is not a strange thing he challenged them to do in verse 24. But why tell them they could not do it, that they could not serve the Lord? (Verse 19) In large part again because of what Joshua had seen in them, because of their history. Still, God wanted them to serve Him, to follow Him, and what God wants God also gives the people to do. I want to look at this challenge this week, look at what God wanted them to do, and look at what that involved. For today I want you to look at this challenge as one made to you personally and individually, because that is exactly what it is. Who will you choose to follow, who will you choose to serve?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 22nd, 2016 at 4:46 am and is filed under Daily Devotions. You can skip to the end and leave a response.