Josué 24

Josué 24

Morgan - Jos. 24:15 These were the words of a fine irony. In spite of a constant use of them, they did not constitute an appeal to choose between God and idols. Joshua was supposing that they had decided not to serve God, -and he called them then to choose between the gods their fathers had abandoned, and those which they had found in the land. He had traced their history from the call of Abraham to that time. This history he had expressed in the form of the speech of Jehovah; and in the compass of eleven verses the Divine pronoun "I" occurs no less than seventeen times. It was a great statement of the truth that everything of greatness in their history was of God From that fact, Joshua made the natural deduction: "Now therefore fear Jehovah, and serve Him." But if not—then let them choose between these other gods. The implicate of the appeal was the recognition of a great necessity in all human life. Man must worship, he must have a god. That is universally true. If men will not serve the Lord, then let them choose whom they will serve, only let them make their decision in the clear light of what the kingship of God really means of light, and love and life and liberty. This is a great method of appeal. If to-day men say of God's annointed and appointed King. "We will not have this Man to reign over us," then let us urge them to choose as between the alternatives which are offered them; only let them compare the results of the reign of Christ over human life with those of any other authority to which loyalty may be yielded. Such comparison compels us to Joshua's decision: ' As for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah." A young soldier from Glasgow was talking to a comrade. In their ears was the muffled sound, the “Dead March in Saul,” as a comrade was carried to his last resting-place; and this Glasgow soldier, converted up there at Maryhill, was talking to his friend, and pleading with him to come to Christ. The young Highlander there in the funeral march was terribly impressed, and he said, “Jack, I will be a Christian when I leave the service.” He had just nine months to put in. He said, “I am determined to be a Christian when I leave the service.” Ah! that was his decision. Next week there came orders for the 79th to embark for Egypt. The two friends were in the march across the sands to the Arab encampment of Tel-el-Kebir, marching side by side--the one with the acceptance of salvation in his heart, and the other putting it off till he should leave the service. Softly did they walk across these sands, silently did they steal through the darkness of midnight to the camp of the slumbering Arabs; but the sentinels were on the alert, and they saw a flash of light, and five hundred rifles from the Arab encampment poured their bullets on the advancing Highlanders; and there, dead and cold, was the body of the man who put off the acceptance till he should leave the service. Oh, comrade, what a fatal decision! (J. Robertson.) As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joe Stowell - Where Have All the Heroes Gone? “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” Joshua 24:15 What’s with celebrities? The last few years have been littered with famous people behaving badly . . I’m sure it would only take a minute for you and I to come up with a dozen recent examples… I’m not a real uptight person. I have a pretty wide berth for weirdness and foolish behavior. I guess I’ve seen enough of it in my own life and have come to believe that if we knew the extent of the fall we would be surprised that anything good happens at all. But this is ridiculous! And, while I’m in this mood, what’s with the tabloids that grab our attention while we are waiting in the grocery line? Who are these people who have been caught naked by a hiding photographer at some secluded beach? and who cares who’s getting divorced, sleeping with someone’s best friend, or having another baby out of wedlock? But that’s just it, isn’t it?! Lots of people seem to care. They find it all interesting and stimulating. That’s why this stuff sells. All this behaving badly tickles the public fancy, grabs headlines, and fills up tons of minutes on talk shows. Which leaves me wondering . . . Isn’t there anything more important for us to be taken with, for us to talk about? Where have all the really cool heroes gone? I hate to sound like I am above it all and on to better things—which would come across as arrogant and judgmental—so forgive me. That’s not my intention. But there is a great alternative to cohabiting in the sludge of the seamy side of life. I find that living and thinking in the world of God’s Word, God’s ways, and God’s will is like fresh air to my soul. And I do in fact have a Hero who after all these years I find to still be compelling, amazing, adventuresome, challenging, and worthy of my praise and admiration. Today, Jesus is more wonderful to me than He has ever been before! I don’t want to live with a pointed finger at a world that seems to be spinning out of control with no moral compass. What our wild world needs is not another self-righteous declaration of how terrible it all is. After all, what do we expect from people who without Jesus are left to their own desires and instincts? What I want is to get my life in gear with the solid stuff that keeps my heart intrigued with the pure fresh water of God’s Word and to walk the path of life that Jesus walks, to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). My heart beats with Joshua, who in the midst of lots of sordid pagan options declared, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” And like Jesus, I want to remember to love and care for sinners. What our world really needs is the life-changing power of a new life in Jesus. So that will be my prayer! YOUR JOURNEY…What is your reaction to news about celebs? Are you intrigued? Self-righteous? Disgusted? Ask the Lord to turn your heart toward prayer for those who need the life-changing power of new life in Him. What do you admire about your heroes? What do you admire the most about Jesus? Read Philippians 4:8, and do what it says! Next time you’re tempted to indulge in the toxic stuff of this world, choose instead to feed your mind on things are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy! TODAY IN THE WORD Joshua 24:15; Proverbs 4:10-19 In “The Road Not Taken,” the poet Robert Frost ponders how his life might have been different had he made different choices. Frost concludes, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” This poem reminds us of an important truth: life is a journey and the path we take makes all the difference. Not all paths lead to the same place. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are ultimately on the path to eternal life. But during our lives in this world, we make choices that lead either to abundant life or to spiritual dryness. Proverbs is like a road map that shows us what these two paths look like. Today’s passage develops this path metaphor. Yesterday we saw that those who sought wisdom found life–a promise echoed in Joshua 24:10. Here we see that the way of wisdom is a straight path (Joshua 24:11) because it leads to rightness or justice. Thus the way of wisdom allows one to walk unhindered by deception or fear of falling because of sin. Because wisdom leads to life, it’s to be guarded and applied (Joshua 24:13). In addition to seeking wisdom, we must avoid evil. We shouldn’t put even our big toe on this path! This may seem overstated until we consider that initially evil rarely looks bad. In fact, most sins look adventurous and enticing . . . at first. But Proverbs shows us what the end of the road looks like. And here, the end of the evil path really doesn’t look that exciting. Here are people so consumed by greed, lust, revenge, or some other evil, that they can’t even sleep at night. Unless they harm someone, they aren’t content. We may call this thinking psychopathic today, but Proverbs shows that this is where the path of evil leads. As if to drive this home, Joshua 24:18-19 compare the two paths. Using the familiar imagery of light and dark, the stark difference between the two paths couldn’t be more vividly drawn. TODAY ALONG THE WAY We would like to emphasize an earlier point: as believers, our ultimate destination is eternal glory with Jesus. But between now and then, we make choices that either promote or hinder abundant life. So it’s worth considering which of these two paths you are on today. Are you asking the Lord to show you how to bless other people’s lives, or are you harboring grudges and vengeful thoughts? These are hard questions. But if you know you’re on the wrong path, it’s not too late to change direction and head down the path to life! Oswald Chambers - The Will To Loyalty Choose you this day whom ye will serve. — Joshua 24:15 Will is the whole man active. I cannot give up my will, I must exercise it. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God’s Spirit. When God gives a vision of truth it is never a question of what He will do, but of what we will do. The Lord has been putting before us all some big propositions, and the best thing to do is to remember what you did when you were touched by God before – the time when you were saved, or first saw Jesus, or realized some truth. It was easy then to yield allegiance to God; recall those moments now as the Spirit of God brings before you some new proposition. "Choose you this day whom ye will serve." It is a deliberate calculation, not something into which you drift easily; and everything else is in abeyance until you decide. The proposition is between you and God; do not confer with flesh and blood about it. With every new proposition other people get more and more "out of it," that is where the strain comes. God allows the opinion of His saints to matter to you, and yet you are brought more and more out of the certainty that others understand the step you are taking. You have no business to find out where God is leading, the only thing God will explain to you is Himself. Profess to Him – ‘I will be loyal.’ Immediately you choose to be loyal to Jesus Christ, you are a witness against yourself. Don’t consult other Christians, but profess before Him – I will serve Thee. Will to be loyal – and give other people credit for being loyal too. Theodore Epp We Must Choose Joshua 24:14,15 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Joshua admonished the people first of all to fear the Lord. This does not mean to be afraid of Him but to place reverential trust in Him. With such trust in the Lord they would follow Him with confidence. With such fear of the Lord there would be a hatred for evil. So what he was asking the Israelites to do was to have an attitude of heart of complete trust in God. Because of this, then, they would avoid evil and walk in faith. The second admonition was to serve the Lord. Israel was to serve Him in sincerity and in truth. After a proper attitude of heart comes the activity of the mind and the body. To serve in truth means to serve in perfection and with stability. For us this means to serve the Lord now with a perfect heart. We must put on the whole armor of God so that we can stand against the wiles of the Devil. We need this in order to fight the battles of the Lord successfully. Joshua warned the Israelites, in the third place, to put away those things that God did not allow. The idolatry so characteristic of Canaan, with all its attendant evil, unbelief, carelessness and backsliding, was to be put away. It was not a matter of following majority opinion but of finding out what God wanted and doing it. Joshua made it very plain that the Israelites had to choose whom they would serve. We, too, face the same issue. "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). Vance Havner - Joshua's Decision "As for Me and My House" Almost two hundred years ago a redheaded Virginian stood in an old church in Richmond and made a speech that helped to turn the tide of history. He was tired of finagling with George III. He was tired of the olive-branch men and peaceful coexistence. He reached his climax when he declared, "I know not what course others may take but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" [Italics, mine.] No applause followed that speech. The effect was too profound. The grandfather of Robert E. Lee arose and supported it. One man expressed a desire to be buried on that spot when he died—and he was. Patrick Henry had made a great decision. America is the product of great decisions. Today some laugh at old-fashioned oratory, but when one considers most of the speeches we hear nowadays, it is a poor time to ridicule Patrick Henry. On the other hand, long-haired radicals try to use the American Revolution to justify their Communist-inspired anarchy. The words of the redheaded Virginian will be remembered as long as freedom endures. Patrick Henry made a momentous choice when he said, "but as for me...." Centuries ago Joshua made a great speech to the children of Israel. Near the close of his life he gathered the people for a farewell message. It has all the marks of a revival sermon. He began with a rundown of past blessings. He called upon Israel to renounce their idols and serve God. It was negative and positive, both barrels of the gun. Then he gave the invitation to action: "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve" and climaxed it with his own decision, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (See Joshua 24:15.) It was high time for a decision. The Israelites were in the Promised Land, but they had not driven out their enemies as God had commanded. They were trying to live in peaceful coexistence, peace without victory. Whether with Canaanites then or Communists now, it cannot be done. Douglas MacArthur made that clear when he said, "There is no substitute for victory." Joshua knew the weakness of Israel. Abraham had been called out of idolatry, and the seeds of evil lay dormant ready to spring into weeds of apostasy. He remembered how at Sinai they had promised to serve God, only to worship a golden calf six weeks later. The church today would live at peaceful coexistence with the world, the flesh, and the devil. There is as much idolatry among us as there ever was in Israel. The love of money, of sensual pleasure, of ourselves—these evils beset us as never before. John's last word in his First Epistle was, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols."... Revival comes when we pray: Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole; I want Thee forever to live in my soul, Break down every idol, cast out every foe; Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. JAMES NICHOLSON Charles Finney said: "Revival is a new beginning of obedience to God." It means a decision to renounce idols and serve God. It is personal. "But as for me...." Paul wrote to Timothy in his first letter, chapter 6 about the peril of things, of the times, and concerning the truth. Each time he followed it with the injunction but as for you, as some new translations put it. "The love of money is the root of all evil but as for you [Italics, mine], flee these things." "Perilous times shall come but as for you, continue in the things you have learned"; "The time will come when they cannot endure sound doctrine but as for you, watch in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." We must decide about things, about the times, and about the truth. The people responded to Joshua's challenge declaring that they too would serve the Lord, but it was not an enduring revival. As we move from Joshua into Judges, we see that the misery in the Book of Judges is due to the mistakes recorded in the Book of Joshua. The last verse in Judges reads, "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." When there is coexistence with evil, false peace without victory, superficial religion, we are on the way to lawlessness. Authority goes out and anarchy comes in. There is no king in Israel and every man does what is right in his own eyes. We have arrived at this point today with civil disobedience, contextual morality, situation ethics and anarchy. When the congregation vowed their resolve to follow Joshua's decision, he replied, "Ye cannot serve the Lord." (See Joshua 24:19.) He threw cold water over their dedication. It is scriptural to challenge cheap dedication. Alexander