A Time for Choice!
With this message, we close this series from Joshua, about possessing our Promised Land, moving into God’s provisions for your life. I pray that you have realized that God has prepared a phenomenal life that stretches from the ‘now’ into the ‘forever’ for each of us. And, I hope that these lessons from an ancient campaign of conquest have spoken to your life! Underscoring the entire series has been the message that there are choices to be made, daily decisions of obedience, of faith, to walk in God’s will.
At the heart of our text today, we find this direct challenge - “...honor the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped... But if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve." (Joshua 24:14-15, NLT)
I love the freedom of choice, don’t you?
Some choices are really so insignificant as to require little thought, i.e., the choice of which suit to wear this morning, to eat toast or muffin for breakfast, which flavor of ice cream for dessert- etc.
Then there are the choices that we make that effect our entire life, i.e.; choosing a spouse, choosing a career, choosing a school for our education, etc.
And there are the choices that will effect eternity; how we respond to God’s will and Word, the choice of obedience that leads to blessing and, to His commendation!
The Bible uses a particularly simple, yet powerful picture to help us to understand this last choice of which I have spoken. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says,
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will go in and eat with him and he with me."
He asks for admittance and gives us a choice to let him in or turn him away. As Jesus knocks at the door of your heart will His request for entry go unanswered?
“Why would anyone turn a deaf ear to God’s invitation?” you might ask.
Some choose to serve other masters, rejecting God’s invitation, not so much by conscious choice, but by default. Thus, they miss out on the privilege of being a friend of God!
Some who once admitted the Savior into their heart have crowded him out. Too many other guests have taken up residence in their heart and he no longer is given room to fellowship at the table of love in that heart.
So I have a message for all this morning.
For the one who has never opened up his life to Jesus, my question is-
"Won’t you let him come into your life and serve him?"
For the Christian my question is-
Is there room at the table of your heart love for Christ to fellowship with you?
Are you serving him wholeheartedly?"
[ pray ]
Turn in your Bibles to a story of a beloved old man’s last farewell.
TEXT - Joshua 23-24. Pew Bible page 368.
Joshua is now in his 80’s. He has faithfully led Israel for years; first as Moses’ assistant, then as God’s man at the head of the people. In his years at the head table, one trait was consistent - faithfulness! He earned the right to speak directly to the people through his own integrity.
As we read his wise words that called this nation to re-examination and re-commitment, we need to allow his challenge to them to help us to respond to the Savior in our daily lives, so that we will live in the Promises!
[ read 23:1-3, 6-11; 24: 1-2, 13, 14-15, 21, 23-24 ]
These chapters are not dual records of the same event. They are separate, yet similar challenges; one for the leadership of the nation and the other for the nation as a whole. Both events followed the same pattern. They become a model of evaluation and commitment for Believers today.
1. Remember God’s faithfulness!
2. Review and renew your understanding of God’s call!
3. Re-dedicate yourself to God’s service with humility!
“Remember!”
Joshua brought into focus the total trustworthiness of the God that he was challenging them to follow. A quick summary of their history from the calling of Abram to the present helped the people to see the hand of God at work in preserving their national identity for God’s purposes. Joshua chose Shechem for the setting because it was at this spot that God had spoken to Abraham hundreds of years before concerning the land of Canaan. Here it was that Abraham built an altar and recognized the one true God.
I believe that it still good to review God’s performance! Begin with the cross and review what God has done through the people who faithfully serve him.
"Bless the Lord, o my soul; and forget not all his benefits. He forgives my sins, heals my diseases, redeems my life from the pit, crowns me with love, satisfies my desires!" Psalm 103
Read the accounts of the Bible that tell of God’s faithfulness.
Read the stories of great Christians.
Review your own life experience with an intent to see what the Lord has done!
You will find that his faithfulness is great. Even in the days where you failed him, he did not fail you! So the first step in making the right choice, is to- REMEMBER- to review God’s past performance!
Review and renew!
Next Joshua told them that they needed to renew their understanding of God’s call to them. [ read 23: 6 ] The passage of time will fuzz up the once-crystal-clear demands of God in your life. Israel drifted away from their God time and again as His will, His purposes, and His plans were obscured by the business of life! Little by little the world encroached upon the things of God.
If you have never opened up your life to Jesus Christ, you need to clarify what God asks of those who serve him. Many ideas that have no basis in the Bible attach themselves to the concept of becoming a follower of Jesus Christ! You may believe that you can buy God’s acceptance or love with charitable gifts or earn His approval through doing good things for humanity. Not true!
Maybe you think that you have to "clean up your act!" before you can respond to the Lord’s knock requesting admission to your heart. Not true!
Perhaps you have some habit that you think must be overcome before you surrender your life to christ. Not true! If you believe those things, you need to re-new your understanding with a biblical knowledge of what it means to choose God! The only Biblical requirement for ongoing fellowship with Christ is a heart of faith, that believes in Him and continues to respond to the Holy Spirit on a day to day basis.
Christian as you face re-commitment to serving God you, too, need to clear up your understanding. You, too, may have drifted little by little from the standard of God’s word to the standard of the world. This subtle drift away from God and the truth is a fact in the life of the Believer who is not ever vigilant!
That is why the Bible urges us to maintain our watchfulness. “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ... how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him."
(Hebrews 2:1-3, NIV) Even more pointedly, we read –“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." (Hebrews 3:12-13, NIV)
Neither I nor the Scripture is suggesting that we can save ourselves from sin! However, we are given a choice to continue in faithfulness. That is why I believe so strongly in spiritual disciplines which open us to the work of the Holy Spirit - things like daily mediation and prayer, regular worship alongside of God’s people, consistently taking in the truth of the Bible in various ways, service, confession, and such practices. IF we stay in place where we can hear the Spirit’s voice, He will do the necessary course corrections in our lives long before we are in a place where we no longer enjoy close fellowship with our God! Review and renew!
Re-dedicate yourselves!
Lastly Joshua urged the people to re-commit themselves whole-heartedly to God’s service. [ read 24: 14-15 ]
This old leader contemplated no neutrality when he set forth the options to the nation. It was either the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Moses or it was the Gods of the Canaanites. There could be no synthesis of the two. A choice had to be made.
There is a watered-down version of "Christianity" abroad in the world. It involves singing hymns that express ideas about God now considered quite quaint, listening to sermons considered basically irrelevant to the demands of the time, and fulfilling the polite expectations of others in society. This practice is more about maintaining a culture than it is about radically pleasing God! It is a Christianity of convenience that loses the compelling nature of TRUTH. It is a sentimental attachment to the past that we pick up in the church foyer and leave behind at the church door. It changes little or nothing in daily life because it is robbed of the TRUTH.
This is not the Christianity of the Bible. The robust faith of the Scriptures changed people’s lives, they were ready and willing to give their lives for Christ and even to die for Him and His cause!
For many who claim to be Christ’s followers the faith is something so casual they can hardly get out of bed to join with other Christians once a week to pursue it. Granted, going to church does not make a Believer, but I am quite ready to say that if a person is carelessly casual about even the basic thing of renewing their relationship with the church - they aren’t likely to be very dedicated to loving and serving Jesus in the hostility of the wider world.
A shallow faith that is expressed with superficial sentiment and less than heartfelt passion, is worse than no faith at all because it provides a veneer that hides the desperate sinfulness of the heart, giving false comfort and assurance to those who need to make a choice - Now serve the LORD!
But be careful to make that choice humbly and with full reliance on the Spirit of God working in you!
Joshua throws a challenge in the faces of the people of Israel which seems insulting at first glance. Take a look. (READ 24:19)
Why, after challenging them to choose, does he make such a negative statement?
“You are not able to serve Him... because He is a holy God!”
Just about everybody initially comes to Christ broken, weak, ready to receive His grace and His help. But a curious thing happens to many of us as we begin to think we’re getting our lives together. We start to think that we’re doing well on our own, thank you very much. A subtle religious pride overtakes us and we rely less and less on God’s Spirit and more and more on our religion!
It is a sure way to fall far and to fall hard! Paul, with equal measures of anger and sorrow, wrote to a group of Believers in the city of Galatia who had fallen into this trap. He founded the church there preaching that Jesus died for their sins and God’s grace brought them into a right, restored relationship with Heaven. After several years, they were congratulating themselves on how good they were compared to the world, focusing on religion, rituals, and resolve as the way to please God. Hear what the Word says to them:
“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" (Galatians 3:1-4, NIV)
Yes, we have the power of choice and God calls on us to make the choice of obedience day by day, but with a humble reliance on His powerful Presence that will work in us!
The moment we think we can do it on our own, the moment we start to focus attention on our accomplishments or think that we are something wonderful – we’re facing the wrong direction, headed for disaster. In that pride, we have chosen a new god, named self, and we are serving an idol that offends the true God.
Choose, but do so with humility!
________________________
The Lord Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart.
Will you open up and give him the place of priority in your life?
Will you make the determination that all other pursuits in life must take secondary place to your commitment to Christ?
This is a costly decision.
It will mean that you have to turn away from certain job opportunities that would consume you.
It will mean that you have to make a choice to love someone when your natural instincts would cause you to hate them.
It will mean that you will have to learn to be generous with your money, with your time, with your love. It may mean sending your children off to a mission field someday!
It will mean saying no to the desires that are contrary to the will of God even when "everyone else is doing it!"
Today is the day to choose.
1. Remember God’s faithfulness!
2. Review and renew your understanding of God’s call!
3. Re-dedicate yourself to God’s service with humility!
Don’t waver, don’t waffle, don’t wander – instead say,
“With God’s help, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
_____________________________
And what is the reward for making the choice to serve Him?
I am inspired over and over again as I read the words that Paul sent to Timothy. He dictated these words in his final letter - after a life of struggle, after making hard and costly choices for 30 plus years in the service of His Lord.
There is not a tinge of regret, not a moment’s remorse.
What we see is an old soldier, ready to receive his reward. Listen to what he said -
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return." (2 Timothy 4:7-8, NLT)
Possess YOUR Promised Land!
Choose today,
Choose again tomorrow,
Choose, and choose, and choose again until the that day when the end of the race is in sight, and
you, too, will be ready to step up and hear the only words that really matter –
Well, done, welcome home, receive your eternal reward!
