Serve The Lord

In Bible times, foreign gods where a major issue. The first of the ten commandments God gave Moses on mount Sinai was, “you shall have no other gods before me.” But this seemed to be a continual thorn in the side of the Israelites. It didn’t seem to matter how faithful God was to them, how many miracles he performed, or how many prayers he answered, foreign gods were always an area of temptation for them. Though we may not struggle with this same temptation, there are others that can just as easily draw us away from God. And if we were ever hot for him, if we are not careful, our dedication can grow lukewarm and we can drift further and further away from him; so far, in fact, that we may no longer “serve” him. The world may begin to look so enticing that God becomes an afterthought. Joshua challenged the Israelites with these words; words that I think we should take to heart as well. In Joshua chapter 24, verse 15, it says:

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable for you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods 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.” 

Our culture, our media, and our environment may never shine a light on the goodness and the faithfulness of our God. That means that we will have to keep the fire hot through effort. We need to continually seek God. We need to continually love him. And we must continually serve him. Worldly enticements, and our apathy as a culture, has take the place of foreign gods. Without realizing it many of us have turned to technology and entertainment media to occupy our time and our attention. We may need to wake up and turn our eyes back to God. We may need to address what Joshua said to the Israelites: “If serving the Lord seems undesirable for you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” I pray that you and I will make that same declaration.

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Following Christ in our culture takes effort. We need to actively seek him, and we need to seek him first. We need to fill our minds with heavenly things; things that make us think about him, worship him and serve him. Because if we are left to our own devices, we are prone to wander. Like a pot of boiling water removed from the burner, we are liable to grow lukewarm. We must purpose in our hearts to pursue God with all that is within is. We must decide today whom we will serve. And as we do, I hope and pray that we come to the same conclusion Joshua did. I pray that we will say with our mouths, as well as with our hearts and our actions, “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Our Mandate

I hope and pray that your walk with the Lord is strong, that your relationship with him is close and personal, and that the Spirit is helping you to keep the commandments and obey our Lord, because when it comes down to it, that is our mandate. Joshua chapter 22 verse 5 puts it this way:

“Be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all of your heart and with all of your soul.”

Those are the ingredients to a strong walk with our Father; to love him, obey him, hold fast to him and to serve him with everything that is within us. I encourage you to consider your walk daily. Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily and follow him. That tells me that every day we need to evaluate our walk, realign our focus, and do everything we can to remain sensitive to the Spirit. Do you ever sense, or hear, the Spirit talking to you? I believe that one way we can open the lines of communication with him is to have our minds and our focus set upon him; to do what it says in Joshua 22 which his to love, obey, hold fast, and serve him with everything that is within us.

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Our mandate as believers and followers of Christ are to love God, obey him, hold fast to him and to serve him with all of our heart and soul. When I read Joshua 22:5, I understand that we are expected to put our whole selves into our walk with Christ; to do it with all of our heart and soul. That is total commitment. If you decide to follow Christ, what benefit is there if you do it half heartedly? I say that we should go all the way, all in, whole heartedly or not at all. And I know that God would agree because it says in Revelation that we are called to be hot toward him. It explains that he would rather we be cold than lukewarm. So I encourage you today, to run hard after Christ and to burn hot for him. I encourage you to pursue a walk with him that is totally committed.

Inquire of God

As I read many of the stories in the book of Joshua, I’m continually amazed at the character of God. God tells the Israelites to destroy, or drive out, the inhabitants of the promise land, and not to make any treaties with them. But the Gibeonites tricked them. When they approached the Israelites they wore worn out clothes and brought with them moldy food so that it seemed as if they traveled from far away. And in Joshua chapter 9 verses 14 and 15 it says these words:

"The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.+

Later, Joshua realized his mistake, but since they made the treaty, they had to stick with the agreement. If only Joshua would’ve inquired of the Lord before making a decision. If he did, God would’ve revealed the deception and he could’ve taken appropriate action. How many times do we move forward with a decision without inquiring of the Lord? Prayer to our Lord should be the first step in any plan. I encourage you, whatever you plan to do, whatever situation you face, before you do anything, inquire of the Lord.

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Inquiring of God shouldn’t be a last resort, it should be the first thing we do in every important decision or challenging situation. Joshua didn’t inquire of God and he was duped. Hopefully, we can learn from his mistake and get on our knees at the very start of the process.

Not With You

I was struck by something I read in the bible the other day from the book of Joshua. As God led the Israelites to take possession of the promised land, he gave them specific orders as to what they can plunder and what they should leave, or destroy. When the greed of one of the soldiers got the best of him, he disobeyed God and took some of the plunder that was slated for destruction. As a result, during the next battle, God pulled back his divine favor and the Israelites lost. In Joshua chapter 7 verse 12 the Lord shares this with Joshua. He said:

"That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction."

God then calls this one soldier out, and the Israelites stone him and his family to death so that the Lord would turn from his anger. You see, God pulled away because the Israelite’s sin and his holiness do not mix. Likewise, when we sin, we should never think that it will not affect our relationship with God, because it does. God tells Joshua that he will not be with the Israelites anymore unless he destroys whatever among them that is devoted to destruction. I challenge you, if you have sin in your life, do everything you can to get rid of it. Until you do, there is no way you can have a strong relationship with God, because sin and his holiness do not mix.

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Sin and God’s holiness do not mix. When we sin, it drives a wedge between us and God. Sure, sin can be forgiven, but as I look at the story in Joshua, I realize that the character of God reveals how much he hates disobedience. He withdrew his favor from the Israelites until they “destroyed whatever among them that was devoted to destruction.” If you haven’t already, I think it is time that we take our sin seriously. I know it can be difficult to break bad habits and sinful addictions, but as believers, that is what we are called to do.