Post by Les Brewer on Jan 17, 2024 16:40:37 GMT
Choosing to Follow God By: Bill Crowder
Click here for the Audio Message
Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . . As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15
Today's Scripture & Insight :
Joshua 24:14–18
“The average person will make 773,618 decisions over a lifetime,” claims the Daily Mirror. The newspaper goes on to assert that we “will come to regret 143,262 of them”. I have no idea how the paper arrived at these numbers, but it’s clear that we face countless decisions throughout our lifetime. The sheer quantity of them might become paralysing, especially when we consider that all our choices have consequences, some far more momentous than others.
After forty years wandering in the wilderness, the children of Israel stood at the threshold of their new homeland. Later, after entering the land, Joshua, their leader, issued to them a challenging choice: “Fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness,” he said. “Throw away the gods your ancestors worshipped” (Joshua 24:14). Joshua told them, “If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . . But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (v. 15).
As we begin each new day, possibilities stretch before us, leading to scores of decisions. Taking the time to ask God to guide us will influence the choices we make. By the power of the Spirit, we can choose to follow Him every day.
Reflect & Pray
What choices have you regretted making? How might you have handled those situations more wisely?
Father, sometimes life can feel overwhelming—and so can the many choices that confront me. Please guide my steps and my decision-making so that I honour You in the choices I make.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The challenge from Joshua to the people of Israel who are about to take possession of the promised land (Joshua 24:14-15) gives us insight into their religious history during their time of slavery in Egypt. While some continued to worship Yahweh during their captivity, as seen in the fear of God displayed by the midwives Shiphrah and Puah (Exodus 1:15-17), today’s passage indicates that worship of Yahweh was only one form of their worship.
To the second generation that had come out of slavery (the first generation had died in the wilderness), Joshua proclaimed these words: “Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. . . . Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:14-15). This shows that the descendants of Jacob who were in slavery in Egypt had adopted various religious practices.
JR Hudberg
Joshua 24:14-18
King James Version
14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;
17 For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
18 And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our God.
Click here for the Audio Message
Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . . As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15
Today's Scripture & Insight :
Joshua 24:14–18
“The average person will make 773,618 decisions over a lifetime,” claims the Daily Mirror. The newspaper goes on to assert that we “will come to regret 143,262 of them”. I have no idea how the paper arrived at these numbers, but it’s clear that we face countless decisions throughout our lifetime. The sheer quantity of them might become paralysing, especially when we consider that all our choices have consequences, some far more momentous than others.
After forty years wandering in the wilderness, the children of Israel stood at the threshold of their new homeland. Later, after entering the land, Joshua, their leader, issued to them a challenging choice: “Fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness,” he said. “Throw away the gods your ancestors worshipped” (Joshua 24:14). Joshua told them, “If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . . But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (v. 15).
As we begin each new day, possibilities stretch before us, leading to scores of decisions. Taking the time to ask God to guide us will influence the choices we make. By the power of the Spirit, we can choose to follow Him every day.
Reflect & Pray
What choices have you regretted making? How might you have handled those situations more wisely?
Father, sometimes life can feel overwhelming—and so can the many choices that confront me. Please guide my steps and my decision-making so that I honour You in the choices I make.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The challenge from Joshua to the people of Israel who are about to take possession of the promised land (Joshua 24:14-15) gives us insight into their religious history during their time of slavery in Egypt. While some continued to worship Yahweh during their captivity, as seen in the fear of God displayed by the midwives Shiphrah and Puah (Exodus 1:15-17), today’s passage indicates that worship of Yahweh was only one form of their worship.
To the second generation that had come out of slavery (the first generation had died in the wilderness), Joshua proclaimed these words: “Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. . . . Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:14-15). This shows that the descendants of Jacob who were in slavery in Egypt had adopted various religious practices.
JR Hudberg
Joshua 24:14-18
King James Version
14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;
17 For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
18 And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our God.
