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As For Me And My Household

                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.” (Joshua 24:15)

                This morning, before sitting down at my computer, I asked God for a verse I could write a blog about quickly. The verse above was the verse of the day online. It’s one of my favorite verses, so now I’m flustered and don't know where to start. Oh boy…oh boy!

                Joshua was about 110 years old. He’d spent 25-30 years leading the Israelites as they conquered the Promised Land. Before that, he had spent 40 years watching Moses lead them around in circles in the wilderness. He had defended the nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic for as much as 70 years. He’d seen Israel at its best and at its worst. The best wasn’t very good, and the worst was downright terrible.

In the end, he tells them they’re going to fail, then he gives them a choice. They can serve God, or they can serve whatever god they want to. If they are going to serve God, then they must throw away all the other gods they have been serving while supposedly following God through the wilderness and in conquest across the Promised Land. He didn’t think they would fall away. He was sure they already had. So, if they wanted to serve other gods, that was their business, not his, but as for him and his household, they would serve the Lord.

Leaping forward to our time, I think his is a challenge we need to take seriously. Are we going to serve the Lord? You can go serve whatever god you want. I won’t stop you. But if you’re going to serve the Lord, you’ll have to throw away the other gods we tend to serve without thinking twice. And when someone insists that we follow them, or their god (which may be them), we need to say, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” When they protest or complain, say, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Then they threaten or stand in judgment, say, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Then go serve the Lord. It’s not your job to choose for them.

But keep in mind, the Israelites swore up and down that they were going to serve the Lord...

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