"Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!" - Joshua 24:14
Quick question, why would Joshua instruct God's people to "put away the gods which your father's served" if they did not already have those gods in their possession?
Quick answer, because Joshua knew man's propensity to return to their natural "instincts" if they did not use their gift of choice properly.
We are all creatures of habit. One of the worst habits we tend to collectively have is the habit of seeking the path of least resistance. We like smooth roads with no bumps. We don't like obstacles, stop signs, or traffic lights. We certainly don't like other people slowing us down. Most of us are conditioned to seek the most trouble-free course along our journey. We want comfort and ease and will work extremely hard to provide ourselves with as comfortable a lifestyle as possible.
Ever wonder why God didn't take Israel on a straight course from Egypt to Canaan? Ever look at a map of ancient Sinai? It doesn't take 40 years to travel from Egypt to Canaan; even on foot. In 40 years time, Israel could have walked from North Africa to Iceland and back again with time to spare.
So, have you ever wondered why God took them on the route that He did?
God's path is not easy. If Israel had any misgivings about this fact, their exodus from Egypt and subsequent campaign to conquer the 'promised land' removed all doubt. God's path isn't about the destination as much as the journey. God's isn't interested in creating a kingdom of self-willed, disobedient, whiny, complaining, unhappy children. He's all about maturing us, filling us with Himself, and teaching us how to be submitted, obedient servants.
Worshiping golden calves is much easier than submitting to God. Idols are easy. They make no demands and have no expectations save what we create for them.
But God requires things from us. He requires us to trust Him even when it looks like He is nowhere around. He expects us to obey Him even when His instruction does not make a lick of sense to us. He expects us to choose His Word, Will, and Ways above all others, including our own.
That is hard. That is very hard. In fact, without God empowering us to consistently trust, obey, and follow Him, we cannot do it.
Which is why we tend to gravitate to the easier path of worshiping the idols of our fathers.
That is why, in the face of this basic understanding of human nature, Joshua instructs God's people to put away their idols before he invokes the power of choice in the very next verse:
Quick question, why would Joshua instruct God's people to "put away the gods which your father's served" if they did not already have those gods in their possession?
Quick answer, because Joshua knew man's propensity to return to their natural "instincts" if they did not use their gift of choice properly.
We are all creatures of habit. One of the worst habits we tend to collectively have is the habit of seeking the path of least resistance. We like smooth roads with no bumps. We don't like obstacles, stop signs, or traffic lights. We certainly don't like other people slowing us down. Most of us are conditioned to seek the most trouble-free course along our journey. We want comfort and ease and will work extremely hard to provide ourselves with as comfortable a lifestyle as possible.
Ever wonder why God didn't take Israel on a straight course from Egypt to Canaan? Ever look at a map of ancient Sinai? It doesn't take 40 years to travel from Egypt to Canaan; even on foot. In 40 years time, Israel could have walked from North Africa to Iceland and back again with time to spare.
So, have you ever wondered why God took them on the route that He did?
God's path is not easy. If Israel had any misgivings about this fact, their exodus from Egypt and subsequent campaign to conquer the 'promised land' removed all doubt. God's path isn't about the destination as much as the journey. God's isn't interested in creating a kingdom of self-willed, disobedient, whiny, complaining, unhappy children. He's all about maturing us, filling us with Himself, and teaching us how to be submitted, obedient servants.
Worshiping golden calves is much easier than submitting to God. Idols are easy. They make no demands and have no expectations save what we create for them.
But God requires things from us. He requires us to trust Him even when it looks like He is nowhere around. He expects us to obey Him even when His instruction does not make a lick of sense to us. He expects us to choose His Word, Will, and Ways above all others, including our own.
That is hard. That is very hard. In fact, without God empowering us to consistently trust, obey, and follow Him, we cannot do it.
Which is why we tend to gravitate to the easier path of worshiping the idols of our fathers.
That is why, in the face of this basic understanding of human nature, Joshua instructs God's people to put away their idols before he invokes the power of choice in the very next verse:
"Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve..."
The message couldn't be clearer. The proper usage of the gift of choice is to ultimately commit to who we'll be giving ourselves to; God or the enemy of our souls. There is no grey area here. No middle-ground. It doesn't matter if you agree with this conclusion or not; the facts are the facts. We are going to be serving SOMEONE with our lives and the identity of our master is completely dependent upon what we do with the gift of free will.
Joshua completed his statement by telling everyone within the sound of his voice what his decision had been and would continue to be until his dying breath. He was 'all-in' with Yahweh. There really are no examples in scripture of Joshua wavering on this point. From the moment we're introduced to him to this final chapter in his life, Joshua is a fantastic example of what God can do with the life of an individual who has chosen to trust and obey Him completely.
For example:
For example:
Joshua survived God's death sentence for the first generation of Jews (Numbers 14:29-30 and Numbers 14:38 ).
Joshua was used by God to supernaturally defeat the enemies of God's people - Exodus 8-13
Joshua was one of only a handful of people privileged to serve in the original Tabernacle - Exodus 33:7-11
Joshua was used by God to supernaturally defeat the enemies of God's people - Exodus 8-13
Joshua was one of only a handful of people privileged to serve in the original Tabernacle - Exodus 33:7-11
Joshua was among the first to see the "promised land" as a spy - Numbers 13:16
Joshua was hand-picked by God to succeed Moses - Numbers 27:18-22
...and the list goes on. Do you think Joshua accomplishes any of these things (and so much more) if he misuses the power of choice? Do you believe we would be talking about Joshua 4,000 years after his life if he chose the path of least resistance? Do you think there would be a book in the Bible named after him if he hadn't decided to go "all-in" with Yahweh?
The power of choice is in every one of us. The decision in front of us is simple; God's way or ours.
Again, there is no grey area. If you desire a victorious, Holy Spirit filled life then you'd better understand the cost for that life. Fence straddlers need not apply.
Basically, the power of choice boils down to this: we will never experience everything available to us as children of God until we choose our master, once and for all.
The choice is ours. It is within our power to unleash the exact same God that Joshua experienced in our everyday lives or to severely limit God's participation and render the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God all but powerless in our lives.
It all depends on how we use the power of choice. We must all choose. But choose wisely.
Which master you choose to give yourself to will determine if you're going to walk in your God-called destiny or just wander in the desert.
Stay tuned...there's more to come.
Joshua was hand-picked by God to succeed Moses - Numbers 27:18-22
...and the list goes on. Do you think Joshua accomplishes any of these things (and so much more) if he misuses the power of choice? Do you believe we would be talking about Joshua 4,000 years after his life if he chose the path of least resistance? Do you think there would be a book in the Bible named after him if he hadn't decided to go "all-in" with Yahweh?
The power of choice is in every one of us. The decision in front of us is simple; God's way or ours.
Again, there is no grey area. If you desire a victorious, Holy Spirit filled life then you'd better understand the cost for that life. Fence straddlers need not apply.
Basically, the power of choice boils down to this: we will never experience everything available to us as children of God until we choose our master, once and for all.
The choice is ours. It is within our power to unleash the exact same God that Joshua experienced in our everyday lives or to severely limit God's participation and render the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God all but powerless in our lives.
It all depends on how we use the power of choice. We must all choose. But choose wisely.
Which master you choose to give yourself to will determine if you're going to walk in your God-called destiny or just wander in the desert.
Stay tuned...there's more to come.
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