Whom will you serve in 2003 Joshua 24:14
You did it! You made it through another year. 2002 is history. 2003 is a mystery. The new year divides the past from the present, the old from the new. This is a new year, full of all sorts of possibilities and opportunities. 12 long months. 52 long weeks. 365 long days. 8,760 long hours. 525,600 long minutes. 31,536,000 seconds. What will you do with all of this time? We have a choice to make and that choice is whom will we serve in 2003?
Some will serve the God of Money. Money will be the most important thing in their lives. Some will serve the God of material things. The more they get the more they will want. They will acquire 2 and 3 automobiles and will be too busy to come to church, working 2 and 3 jobs to pay for them. Some will serve the god of pleasure. Everything has to cater to the satisfaction of their senses; they will always want to have fun. They will always want to feel good. Some will serve the god of health. They will put health and exercise before God.
Some will serve the god of time. Their time will be wasted on carnal things and not used for spiritual things. My question to you that are here this morning at Truth and Light, whom will you serve in 2003?
This is a typical time of year to make resolutions. We resolve to do things differently. We resolve to get rid of the old things and begin some new good ones. We resolve to lose weight, eat less, exercise more, spend less, save more, stop smoking, stop drinking, stop sinning. We resolve to read our bibles more, and to be a better Christian this year than we were last year.
But, all too often we find ourselves making promises that we don’t keep. Making commitments that we don’t follow through on. Making resolutions that are not firm as we would like them to be. I used to be a smoker and every year on January 1, I would quit smoking. But that only lasted about a day and a half. Just like Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin said, “It’s easy to quit smoking, I’ve done it hundreds of times.” God is looking for somebody that is willing to be committed to what they say.
In spite of all of the unresolved issues that we have, the bible says that “God is faithful and is long-suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but they all should come into repentance.” The fact that we are still here is evident that merciful and gracious and that he looked beyond our faults and saw our needs.
I would be the first to admit that the reason that I’m able to stand before you this morning is not because of my goodness to God, but because of His goodness to me. It is not because we were so righteous that we are here today but it is because God is righteous. It is not because we were able to keep our covenant with God, but it is because God kept his covenant with us.
It is not because you are I were better than any one of those who didn’t make it over into another year. But only by the Grace of God we have been spared another year.
I just want to let you know that there is a purpose for God’s amazing Grace. I want you to know this morning that God is a God of reasons. He has a reason for doing whatever he does. God is a God of Order; He does everything decently and in order. God is a God of purpose. Everything is done according to his purpose and according to his will.
One thing we need to realize this morning is that life is meant to be lived in a progressive manner. In other words, we ought to be closed to God that we were this time on last year. We ought to be more mature and stronger in faith than we were last year this time. The things that used to wreck our nerves, last year ought not to bother us so much this year. There should be some growth between then and now. This is what the apostle Paul meant when he said, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling o God which is in Christ Jesus.
The basic law of nature demands growth and progress. When we fail to grow or progress, the end result is death. For anything that has life and is not growing or maturing is dying.
One thing we need to realize this morning is that we will always serve some God. Man has been created with a desire to worship. If he doesn’t serve Jehovah God, then he will find a tree, or a bird, or a cow, or the sun or a star or the moon. He’s going to worship something. My question to you Truth and Light, who will you serve in 2003?
In our text this morning Joshua’s words in these verses contain a rare appeal to Israel to choose between Jehovah God and the false Gods. They would have to choose between the gods that their ancestors worshiped and the gods of the Amorites.
One of the key words in this section is serve, used fifteen times. To serve God means to fear Him, obey Him, and worship only Him. It means obeying Him because you want to and not because you have to. Worshipping him because he’s God all by himself.
Joshua made it clear that the people of Israel had to make a decision to serve the Lord God of Israel. There could be no neutrality. They couldn’t remain straddle to fence. They could not be in this day and out the next. They could not live for God on Sunday and live for Satan all through the week. If they served the Lord, then they would have to get rid of the false gods.
Joshua knew that if they did not choose to serve Jehovah God, that they would end up worshipping the false Gods. The bible says that no man can serve two masters. He either has to hate the one and love the other or he will love the other and hate the one. His point was that they couldn’t do both. We must realize that our God is a jealous God. That’s why he said that thou should have no other God before me.
But Joshua stood firm as a leader. Joshua said for me and my house, we’re going to serve the Lord. For it was the Lord God almighty that brought us out of the Land of Egypt. It was the Lord God almighty that brought us out of the land of bondage. It was the Lord God almighty that performed miracles on our behalf. It was the Lord God almighty that kept us. It was the Lord God almighty that delivered us. As for me and my house I’m going to serve the Lord.
I wonder how many of us can say that this morning. As for me and my house, I’m going to serve the Lord. (Turn to your neighbor). I’m going to serve the Lord God almighty in 2003. For it was the Lord God almighty that woke me up this morning. It was the Lord God almighty that picked me up and turned me around. It was the Lord God almighty that put Joy on the inside, clapping in my hands, running in my feet. It was the Lord God almighty that spoke peace to my dying soul.
I don’t know about you, but I’m glad this morning that I’ve been spared another year. I want to tell you this morning that whatever you plan to do for the master, do it now. Do it while you still have time. I heard Job say that man is born of a woman is of a few days, and those days are full of trouble. We’ve been spared another year, and I don’t know about you, I’m glad about it. I’m glad to be in service one more time. He didn’t have to let me live. And since I’m here I’m going to serve the Lord with gladness. I’m going to come before his presence with thanksgiving. I’m gonna enter into his courts with praise. I’m gonna witness while I still have a chance. I’m going to work while it is day; while I have a chance. Whatever the Lord has laid on your heart to do, you better do it quickly.
It’s getting late in the evening; the sun is almost down. Time has been, soon won’t be no more. I heard somebody say the other day, “Before this time another year, I may be dead and gone, but I’ll let you know before I go, what will become of me.
Now, I won’t to tell you something before I go to my seat. If you walk in the pathway of duty. If you work till the close of the day, you shall see the great king in His beauty, when you’ve gone the last mile of the way.
Yes, when I’ve gone the last mile of the way. I shall rest at the close of the day. And I know that there will be joys that awaits me, When I’ve gone the last mile of the way.
I can’t afford to be idle. I can’t afford to waste my time. I’ve got to work till the close of the day. I want to hear Him say, “Servant, Servant well done.” You’ve been faithful over a few things, come on up and I will, I will make you ruler over many.
