Whom Will You Serve?

WHOM WILL YOU SERVE?
Joshua 24:14-25

Vs. 15: “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Last month, millions of people in the USA elected a President. Were you on any particular side then? Did you consider yourself a winner or a loser? But we do not serve presidents. They lead our nation, and we respect the position. (In fact, the president serves the people.) In America, we have religious freedom to serve whomever we choose. Every nation in the world has their own laws that govern people’s rights.

Joshua found himself in quite a predicament. He had led the Israelites to their promised land. While travelling through and conquering foreign lands, his people were intrigued at their native gods. Now that they were to ready to settle in their individual land allotments, he challenged them to serve the one true God—Jehovah.

Jericho, Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites were driven from their land so that the Israelites could take possession of it. (Vs. 11-12). God did all the work for them. Now Joshua wants to know—whom will they serve—these strange gods, or the One who gave them this land?

They settled in a land where they did not toil the ground, into cities they did not build, eating from vineyards and olive groves that they did not plant. Joshua was challenging them to “Fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods of your forefathers

worshipped beyond the River (Jordan) and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.” (Vs. 14).

Joshua sounds upset to me. Now he wants their answer. Whom will you serve?

Take Home Nugget

Vs. 16-18 tells us their answer. “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God himself who brought us out of Egypt, from the land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because He is our God.”

The devil tempts us to serve many “gods”. (The Bible calls them idols.) Let’s see: there is money, power, prestige, possessions, popularity, pride. Can you think of any others? Whom will you serve?

Many things tempt children of the one true God.
Jesus is my King; give me the nerve-
Nothing else even comes close.
Be my witness—whom I will serve.

J.D. Griffith

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