Not to be Taken Lightly

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If Joshua 23 was the exclamation point at the end of Joshua's life, then Joshua 24 is that which underlined and highlighted it for emphasis. Joshua wants Israel to understand the serious nature of their commitment because God will not take it lightly; He will hold them to it.After all, convicting words demand a life changing decision on behalf of the listener.

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This is where we come to in Joshua 24:14-15 and some of the most renowned words in all of scripture, "Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Takeaway

Delaying obedience unto tomorrow is continued disobedience today, delaying commitment is a form of compromise and delaying devotion to God is a genuine danger.

In Joshua 24:16-24 reads, "So the people answered and said: "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. 18 And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God."

19 But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good."

21 And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the Lord!"

22 So Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him."

And they said, "We are witnesses!"

23 "Now therefore," he said, "put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel."

24 And the people said to Joshua, "The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!"

Israel responds with enthusiasm and with great conviction, "We will serve the LORD!" But Joshua pushes back and for good reason, he knows God and he knows people.He warns them that God is holy, that God is jealous, and that God is serious about the covenantal loyalty they are pledging themselves to.

Takeaway

We need to be aware of what God requires and that He's serious in a way we cannot comprehend, hence, we should be exceedingly grateful to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior Who satisfied God's perfect requirements on our behalf.

Then in Joshua 24:24-28 we read, "So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.26 Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, 'Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.' 28 So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance."

It's important to note the stone is a reminder to the people of Israel that their words of commitment and dedication matter, their choices matter, their loyalties matter.

Takeaway

Remembering God's faithfulness fuels our faithfulness; when we forget or deem irrelevant what God has done, we forget who we are in Him and by His loving sacrifice and longsuffering.

Just as Israel lived in a land they did not earn and in cities they did not build, led there by the presence of God across an impossible obstacle; we exist in a salvation we did not earn by a debt that we did not pay; we live daily in the promised land, so to speak, of God's gift of eternal life having been led here by the kindness and conviction that comes from the reality of Jesus Christ; He brought us through the impossible, we did not go through the impossible.

Faith requires a choice here and now, not someday, not eventually.For God desires covenantal loyalty, not casual false religion; He wants hearts, not habits; He requires devotion, not convenience; with such commitments being renewed continually, it's one of the reasons we gather weekly as the Church in God's house, to be reminded that yesterday's faithfulness does not assure today's obedience as we must not wait for when life gets easier, when we feel spiritual or when we have the time.

Choose today in your home, your heart and with your life to follow God a faithful response; having been clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.Galatians 3:27, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ."Live this day with decisiveness as Joshua said he would in verse 15, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

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