Whom will you serve?
Joshua 22:1 – 24:33 Read it here
As we come to the end of Joshua we find probably the most famous quotation from the book—one especially appropriate for the new year.
Joshua has told the people to avoid the risks of serving gods of the surrounding people.
“Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (24:14-15)
I’ve quoted more here than we usually hear quoted—typically it’s just the final sentence, sometimes preceded by “choose this day whom you will serve.”
But the fuller context makes it clear that Joshua was presenting a legitimate choice; this wasn’t just a rhetorical question with only one possible answer.
He is seriously challenging the people to make a choice.
A little later in the same chapter, he makes clear that serving God is not an easy thing to do. God, he warns, is both holy and jealous.
Now, this isn’t the kind of jealousy we see with an insecure person who is stifling and possessive, but it is a jealousy that demands we make a clear choice to follow God—and only God—all the days of our life.
And God’s holiness means he expects us to be holy—set apart and visibly different from the world around us.
Neither of those things allow for wishy-washiness. They demand what Joshua demanded: a clear and deliberate decision to either follow or not follow.
Many will choose not to follow.
While that’s unfortunate for them, God gives us that capacity to choose one path or another.
As you enter 2025, make your own choice. Follow, or not. But don’t let indecision or halfhearted efforts rob you of the privilege of making, and owning, your choice.