“Fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” [JOSHUA 24:14-15]. [1]
No home is ideal. It is de rigueur today to speak of less-than-ideal situations for families as “dysfunctional.” Those using the term imply that though some families do meet a standard defining normal family life, other families fail to measure up according to this idealized standard. Magazines and pop-up ads seemingly plague multiple web sites offer to determine whether your family is ideal, or whether yours is one of these dysfunctional families. Well, in what universe does the ideal family exist? Seriously, do you know a family that is perfect? And by the way, what qualifies as normal? What is the standard of family life to which we are to aspire? Nevertheless, each of us has a concept of what we want our family to be.
I’m not about to attempt to dictate how your family should look. I am qualified to say that if you are a follower of the Christ, you have some desires for how your family should live. At least, you should have some expectations for your family; and those expectations extend to your spouse, as well as your children, and even to your grandchildren. You want your family to live honourably, to be honest in deportment and just in every dealing. You want each member of your family to speak the truth in love, to treat others with consideration as they seek to maintain the dignity of everyone with whom they come into contact. You want your children to be chaste, your sons to be courageous and bold, and your daughters to be gracious and gentle.
Let’s admit a difficult truth—you can’t educate your family into righteousness. Even if your children and your grandchildren know what is right, and even if they superficially act in a manner that is consistent with what is right and honourable, you know that you cannot dictate to the heart of even your loved ones. You can appeal to their better angels, as the saying goes, but you cannot compel compliance with standards of goodness. Long years ago, the Psalmist wrote,
“Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
[PSALM 127:1-2]
The Psalmist’s words are humbling—his words remind us that all the training we give our children is ultimately useless if they are not instructed by the Lord Himself.
A fellow pastor of my acquaintance is the father of two fine boys. These boys are hard workers, but they are unconverted. Consequently, they party hard and play hard. That pastor had come to faith later in life, and his sons had grown up in a home where they received no training in righteousness. After their father was saved, he pleaded with his sons to believe the Word, to trust Christ as Saviour, but his pleas were of no avail; his sons continued to live as they were raised. Today, they are nice men, and I do not doubt that in the eyes of most people they are good citizens, but they are truly children of this world. If the Word of the Living God is true, and it is, and if they fail to submit to Christ as Master over life, these two fine men are now eternally condemned to a godless eternity. They are responsible for their own choices, but it is obvious to each sentient individual that the training they received during their formative years—training that failed to point them to Christ—set them on the path they now walk.
While each message I present is critical, I consider this particular message as especially vital for the health of our families. To be certain, I feel the weight of responsibility before the Lord to provide sound instruction for all who share our services. However, I confess that I feel the weight of responsibility imposed as a pastor for the flock in presenting this message.
We watched demonstrations that have escalated to violent riots as they tore American cities throughout this past year. Those demonstrations expanded to Australia, Great Britain and even into communities here in northern Canada. Those demonstrating demanded that specific code words had to be mouthed, and obeisance to “the cause” was demanded. Failure to do so would mean severe opposition from the “peaceful” protestors.
People filled the streets, supposedly protesting the death of a convicted criminal and known drug user in the custody of Minneapolis police. While the police who had him in custody were quickly fired from their jobs, and one of them immediately jailed and charged with third-degree murder, “protestors” took to the streets. The “protests” quickly degenerated into riots. Pallets of bricks and incendiary materials used in making Molotov cocktails miraculously appeared on the streets of multiple cities. Almost without exception, liberal mayors and governors instructed the police to avoid confrontation. And the riots began in earnest.
What is notable about these riots is the absence of family cohesion that would have characterized the people of the United States in a not-so-distant day. Among black Americans, nearly seventy-five percent of live births are to single mothers. Lest you imagine that I’m somehow picking on black Americans alone, I’m aware that white Americans appear to be in a race to see if they can achieve the same disturbing statistics that will ensure that children continue to be ensnared in poverty, burdened with inferior education and denied opportunities. The children grow up without structure and without preparation for productive citizenship. Consequently, young men are trained to be brutes by other young men who have never been taught to use their strength for the benefit of others. Young women are allowed to grow to adulthood with the view that they can use sex as a means of obtaining whatever they imagine they value most. Here is what should disturb every Canadian—we appear enmeshed in the identical miasma that can only lead to dissolution of civil society and destruction of our families.
When the young men and young women raised under these dreadful conditions are at last hailed into court, multiple videos at sentencings reveal mothers screaming out in horror, defiant and pained, and the youth who are sentenced are bewildered or angered that they must face the consequences of their choices. These young people entered the courtroom anticipating that they would be released after promising a judge that they’d try harder to be better people, only to discover there was no sympathy for their vapid, meaningless promises. In the final analysis, an absence of righteous instruction pays the dividend of ruined lives for those who are uninstructed.
I am unapologetic in presenting my plea to parents, I am pleading with grandparents—indeed, pleading that each of you who hear my voice this day take whatever measures are required to ensure that the youth within your families know God and that they grow to maturity with determination in their heart to do what is right, to seek to make something positive of their lives, to choose to live lives that reveal a heart committed to righteousness, to live so as to honour their parents. My goal is to encourage you to make the house you have the home you want. I’m not asking you to seek to create some artifice, some mythical refuge; I’m urging you to begin where you are now to build the home you want. I am urging the people of God to take whatever steps are necessary to make the house you have the home you want.
BACKGROUND — God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. Through the plagues sent on the land, God had confronted and systematically defeated the multiple gods worshipped throughout Egypt. The final confrontation between the Lord GOD and the gods of Egypt had resulted in the death of all the firstborn in the land. The Egyptian gods that ruled over death were incapable of holding back the death angel sent by the Living God. It was too much for the Egyptians, and Pharaoh had demanded—DEMANDED—that Israel leave!
At midnight, Pharaoh rose and demanded of Moses, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also” [EXODUS 12:31-32]. This was not a unilateral decision, though he was the sole ruler in the land. The entire nation wanted Israel gone. Thus, we read, “The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, ‘We shall all be dead’” [EXODUS 12:33].
Even as Israel fled Egypt, Pharaoh had second thoughts about what he had done. Scripture informs the Bible reader, “When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, ‘What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?’ So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon” [EXODUS 14:5-9].
The Egyptian army was the most powerful armed force in existence in that ancient world. There was no nation that could possibly stand in opposition to Egypt. A nation that had been slaves until mere days before would be powerless against such a mighty army. The Israelites had never so much as handled weapons of war—they had been slaves. Their hands were used to grasping shovels and hoes, trowels and scythes. Their abilities were determined by those who had been their masters for hundreds of years; they had no independence to think for themselves. It was impossible to imagine that slaves could stand against an army trained with the implements of war, trained in the art of fighting, trained to be ruthless in combat.
Trapped between the Red Sea and the pursuing army of Egyptians warriors, the people who had so recently served as slaves to the powerful nation of Egypt, appeared destined for destruction. But Israel was not destroyed! The Lord situated His Shekinah cloud of fire and darkness between the pursuing army of Egypt and Israel. While God held the Egyptians at bay, He parted the sea, and Israel crossed without so much as suffering a damp sandal. A child could not have found even a puddle in which she could jump! It is estimated that a path through the sea was at least ten kilometers wide to allow Israel to cross in the time recorded.
After Israel had safely crossed over to the other side, the Egyptians attempted to drive through the same wide swath of dry ground where once the sea had stood, only to be swallowed up in the waters when the LORD brought the sea back over them. Thus, we read, “Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses” [EXODUS 14:31].
For forty years God led His people through the desert. He fed them with the bread of Heaven. He provided water where there was no water. Their clothing did not wear out; they arrived in the Promised Land wearing what they had worn throughout that entire period. Their shoes did not wear out. The LORD was providing for His people. Then, having arrived in the land which God had promised, the LORD led the people to dispossess the inhabitants of the land, giving Israel their new home. They received cities that they did not build. They drank water from wells they did not dig, ate grapes harvested from vineyards they did not plant. The Lord delivered His people and provided all they needed; He protected them and gave them victory over the enemies that stood in opposition to them.
Israel, guided by the leadership of the Lord GOD, had defeated the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Jebusites. The gods of these nations were powerless against the people of God as they followed the LORD. Now, the man who had led the nation during the conquest of the land, was old. We read the “Joshua was old and well advanced in years” [see JOSHUA 23:1b]. He summoned the people, the elders and the heads of the nation, the judges and officers who oversaw the nation, and he addressed them. He began his address by reminding those assembled of the One who had led them, the One who had provided for them all that they now had. “I am now old and well advanced in years. And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you” [JOSHUA 23:2b-3].
Joshua spoke straight with the people, testifying that his end was near and cautioning the people of the consequences of sin. “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you” [JOSHUA 23:14-16].
Then, the old warrior summoned all the tribes to Shechem. The elders, the heads, the judges, the officers of Israel all presented themselves before Joshua at Shechem. There, he reviewed the way in which the LORD had guarded and guided the nation. He reminded those assembled there of the way in which God had provided for the people when there was no way to provide their needs. He spoke of the victories God had given to His people. Then, in a message for the people that resonates with the people of God even to this day, the old warrior challenged those assembled in the Valley of Shechem, “Fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell” [JOSHUA 24:14-15a].
Joshua testified, “You have a choice; you can serve the gods your fathers served in Egypt. Maybe those gods can do a better job for you than they did for the Egyptians. If that doesn’t suit you, you can serve the gods of those who once possessed this land. Perhaps those gods can do a better job for you than they did for the Amorites and all those other ‘ites. I’ve made my choice. I and my house will serve the LORD. You’ve seen what He can do; and He will continue doing that for us. My choice has been made; but you need to make your choice.”
To be certain, the people responded magnificently. “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods, for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God” [JOSHUA 24:16-18].
However, Joshua knew the people better than they knew themselves. “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins” the man of God warned. Then, the aged leader cautioned the people of the consequences of perfidy, “If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good” [JOSHUA 24:19-20]. But the people were adamant that they would serve the LORD. “No, but we will serve the LORD” they protested [JOSHUA 24:21].
Of course, saying one will serve the Living God and actually serving the Living God are two entirely different things. The history of the people of Israel from that day forward is a wild ride of descent into rejection of the LORD superseded by brief periods of revival and restoration, followed again by turning to their own desires. People will serve God, at least superficially, so long as there is a strong leader to confront them with the need to pursue the Lord GOD. The death of that leader, however, almost inevitably results in turning away from the LORD.
I’m speaking to some people who need to make a choice today. If you have already made the choice to follow the Risen Saviour, it will be obvious from the manner in which you live. If your life displays equivocation concerning your commitment to Christ and His people, then you must choose who you will serve. Robert Zimmerman, otherwise known to his fans as Bob Dillon, warbled,
You're gonna’ have to serve somebody, yes you are
You're gonna’ have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna’ have to serve somebody [2]
He was accurate in that assessment. You’re gonna’ have to serve somebody!
You can serve the gods you served during a past life—gods that were unable to provide for anyone in the past, and gods that surely didn’t serve you well then. Those gods from the past included the gods of power, of position, of possessions, and of pleasure. These gods seduced our forebears, though they never fulfilled a single promise. You can serve the gods of those who appear to occupy this present moment. Those gods include the gods of conformity, the gods of chaos, the gods of “self.” You know what you are getting, or perhaps even what you are not getting, when you serve those gods. If that is what you want, then serve those powerless entities. However, you need to know that as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
FEAR GOD — “Fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness” [JOSHUA 24:14a]. Fear of God appears to be in short supply among the professed people of the Living God. It is distressingly easy to coast through life performing various religious acts without ever recognizing the Lord God. Perhaps God doesn’t attend our services! Perhaps God is no longer part of our home life! Or perhaps we are insensible to the presence of the Lord. Perhaps we no longer seek the Lord with all our heart. The Lord our God has promised His people, “When you seek Me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you” [JEREMIAH 29:13a NET BIBLE].
It certainly appears that we who profess to know the Risen Lord of Glory have greater fear of what others think of us than we have fear of the Living God. We fear our children being upset with us more than we fear dishonouring God. So, we remain silent as our children drift away from serving God. Our pleas for them to serve God won’t drive them away, but our silent acquiescence will assuredly entrench them as they turn from pursuing righteousness.
We fear what friends and colleagues might say about us if we fear God. Thus, we are willing to be silent in the face of their defiance of the Lord GOD. We don’t want those with whom we associate to think we are fanatics, so we are willing to be silent as they speak derisively about the Faith and as they ridicule the faithful.
We fear what other church members may think of us, so we are silent and go along with the crowd when they “vote” for what can only be characterized as unrighteous. Our love for fleeting acceptance is greater than our love for the Risen Saviour; so we tolerate the drift into obsolescence as our church family disregards the call to honour the Lord.
The writer of the Letter to Hebrew Christians is almost casual in reminding readers, “Some have entertained angels unawares” [HEBREWS 13:2b]. Undoubtedly, many of us, perhaps all of us, have at various times been in the presence of angels, and we were unconscious of the fact. I am certain that each Christians has on numerous occasions been in the presence of the Risen Saviour without knowing He was present. What I mean is this, whenever anyone in the New Testament accounts was in the presence of the Risen Lord, their immediate response revealed a sense of dread. It wasn’t necessarily dread because they felt that something bad was about to take place; it was terror because the person realized he or she was in the presence of One that cannot be explained. Christ can be experienced, but He cannot be explained.
Almost all of us have had those times when a sense of dread overwhelmed us, and we could not explain why. Is it possible that we were in the presence of the Risen Son of God? Undoubtedly, in some instances we were in the presence of the Risen Saviour. Like John when the Risen Lord delivered His message to the Revelator, dread swept over us. You do recall what John wrote, don’t you? The Revelator sets the scene for what was about to be communicated when he writes, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’
“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead” [REVELATION 1:10-17a]. John saw the Son of God in His unveiled glory, and the Apostle of Love fell down. His knees no longer were able to support him, and he fell down until the Person before him laid His hand on John and said, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” [REVELATION 1:17b-18]. This is the universal response of all who find themselves in the presence of the Risen Lord of Glory.
I’m not urging you to be frightened of God, but I am reminding each of you that it is healthy to possess holy fear of the Living God. It is appropriate and wise to treat God with the awe worthy of His Person. Those who have turned away from the Lord are censured because, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” [ROMANS 3:18].
When a holy angel is recorded as delivering what will be one of the final messages delivered to this world during the dark days of the Great Tribulation, it is a plea to mankind to “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water” [REVELATION 14:7].
The final admonition delivered by the Qoheleth is “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” [ECCLESIASTES 12:13b]. Though the book appears dismal and dark in the estimate of some readers, Solomon was looking at the world through the lens of a man trapped in this dying world, until at the last he came to the confession that lifts the skeptic above the momentary fray to look beyond this drear world.
Throughout the New Testament, we who follow the Risen Saviour are taught to fear God. As one example of this command, consider what Peter has written in his first letter to the believers of the Diaspora. “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” [1 PETER 2:17].
What does it mean when the Bible speaks of fearing God? Are we to be afraid of God? Admittedly, there are times when we should be afraid of God—we should be fearful of displeasing the Lord, we should be afraid to dishonour His Name, we should be afraid to disobey Him. However, just as we are to fear our father, we should fear God. That is, we should hold God in reverence. We should stand in awe of Him because He is mighty. However, we know that just because the Lord is omnipotent, He loves those who look to Him for grace and mercy. Christians who know God, know Him to be a God of love, a God of compassion, a God of kindness. However, just because God is gracious and loving, we must not deceive ourselves into thinking that we can presume against Him. We must never treat the Lord with disdain, or casually dismiss Him as irrelevant. He is God, and He is worthy of our highest honour.
In Heaven, we who are saved, we who have been purchased with the blood of Christ the Lord, shall join with all the saints of the ages as we cast our crowns before God’s emerald throne. There, we shall confess with all the redeemed,
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
[REVELATION 4:11]
God is worthy of praise and worthy of our best service because we were created by His will and we exist because of His will.
In Heaven we shall unite our voices with the redeemed of the ages praising the Lamb of God and saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”
[REVELATION 5:9b-10]
The Lamb of God is worthy—not us. His sacrifice has ransomed a great multitude; and He has made all that He has redeemed to be a kingdom—and they are priests to God. And we, also, share in that eternal kingdom; and we are priests to God because of His work. Whatever worth we may have, we have because Christ the Lord has given us standing. Amen.
PUT AWAY THE GODS YOUR FATHERS SERVED — “Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD” [JOSHUA 24:14b]. We are quickly approaching the advent of a new year. Will this coming year be another three-hundred-sixty-five days just like those through which we have just passed? What new challenges will we face in the coming year? Facing those new challenges, will we accomplish anything of eternal significance during the year that now stretches before us? Will we have a positive impact in the lives of those we love? Will we have any eternal impact in the lives of those with whom we come in contact?
If the coming year will be controlled by the same forces that controlled the year that is now drawing to a close, it is likely that we will have eternally wasted yet another opportunity to change our world. If, however, we commit ourselves to do one great thing for the cause of Christ, quite possibly we can transform our world. My call to the people of God is to determine you will do one great thing. Make this the year that you attempt something of eternal worth. Make this the year that you act boldly to do one great thing for Christ’s sake. Making the effort to some great thing, you are likely to succeed in that effort. Tell a colleague of Christ the Lord. Plead with your child to believe the message of life. Urge the reluctant member of your family to take a stand for Christ, to follow Him in baptism as one who openly identifies with Him. Stand against wickedness, refusing to participate in the evil deeds of your friends who have surrendered themselves to acts that are detrimental to the cause of Christ. Determine that you will be bold for the cause of Christ, living courageously as one who follows the Risen Lord of Glory. Determine to do one great thing this year!
It is high time that we who profess the Name of the Son of God begin to live with radical abandon. For too long we have played church, played as though going through the motions without actually letting go of the past will somehow be pleasing to the Lord God. I recall a mother telling me after a church service how she had observed her child in the back yard one summer day as he was playing “Pastor Mike.” He had lined up all his stuffed animals in chairs and then stood in front of them. He was waving his arms wildly in the air and shouting at the animals to “get saved.” When she asked him what he was doing, he told her he was playing “Pastor Mike.” I confess that I was amused; then I told her, “Be glad he didn’t decide to baptize them.” Don’t play church! Be the church!
If you are a follower of the Son of God, you made a conscious decision to follow Christ. There was a point at which you turned from pursuing your own interests and enthroned the Risen Saviour as Lord, as King over your life. You called this Risen Son of God “Master,” and you ceased serving those gods so-called that once controlled your life. There was a time when you served the god of power, the god of position, the god of possessions, or the god of pleasure. Here within the fellowship of believers, we eschew power over others—we have no desire to coerce anyone into doing anything. Nevertheless, we urgently plead with all who hear our message to submit each life to serve Christ Jesus, the Saviour. We stand against arguments that seek to exalt or advance any individual at the expense of fellow believers. We have but one great desire, and that is to exalt the Son of God in all things. We seek His glory in each life.
We refuse to see one position within the assembly as of greater worth than another. We know that the Spirit of God appoints each follower of Christ to the position He has determined is necessary. Thus, we believe that each member of the congregation is of inestimable worth, and thus each member is valued. We accept each member of the assembly as essential to the cause of Christ. You are needed and you are necessary for the health of the congregation.
We don’t estimate the importance of those sharing in the life of the Body by the possessions held. We are convinced that a person’s worth is determined by the One Whom they serve and not by what they have accumulated of this world’s goods. We share what we have with our fellow saints, and we seek to build one another in the Faith, willingly encouraging and comforting one another. We do this because we see ourselves as administrators of God’s grace.
We know that each of us need time to refresh the body and to renew the mind, but we are not so focused on pleasure that we are prepared to neglect meeting together. We don’t resent holidays; but neither do we exalt them. We esteem one another as more precious than our own interests; and thus, we seek to build one another in this holy Faith. We who are twice-born hold one another in the highest regard, seeing each other as fellow heirs of the grace of God.
We’ve rejected the gods we once served, and we now seek to serve the Risen Saviour. We no longer strive to fulfil our personal desires; but we endeavour to honour the Risen Saviour by doing what He wills. We know that in doing this, we will find the greatest satisfaction and the greatest fulfillment for our own lives. We have put away the gods our fathers served.
CHOOSE WHOM YOU WILL SERVE — “If it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” [JOSHUA 24:15].
Each of us are continually making choices; and the greatest choice we shall ever make is whether we will serve the Lord God or whether we will serve gods of our own making. We confess that we receive Jesus as Master over our life, and we cannot return to what we once were. We accepted the promise of God as regnant for our lives. God has promised, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” [ROMANS 10:9-10]. We have called Jesus “Lord,” and we cannot relegate Him to a position wherein we attempt to rule over Him. Though the temptation to take control over our own life is ever present, we are certain that Jesus is Lord—He is Master. We are compelled to testify as did the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease” [JOHN 3:30]. Jesus is not to be relegated to some distant entity whom we call only when we are in a jam; He seeks to guide us so that we are not besieged by problems of our own making.
One truth concerning our service to God is that we don’t make the choice to serve Him once and then never have to choose again. We choose to serve God when we come to Christ the Son of God and we confess that we have made Him Master over our life; nevertheless, in a practical sense we must choose to serve Him as Master every single day. When you arise on any given morning, you must choose whether you will serve the Lord or whether you will serve your own interests that day. In practical fashion, you will either honour the Son of God by treating your spouse with respect or whether you will elevate own desires to the position of the greatest importance in your life.
When you are confronted with temptation to be dishonest, with temptation to sully your life through surrender to base desires, with temptation to do that which you know displeases the Lord, you must make a choice. Will you choose to follow the Lord? Or will you choose what appeals to the flesh? You must choose, and then you must choose again. Life with the Master consists of a marathon and not a sprint. Too many professed saints of the Most High God appear to believe that they can make a quick profession and then live ever after without a thought of how their life reflects on the Son of God. I’m calling you to choose to serve—and to keep on serving—the Son of God, Christ the Risen Saviour.
May I say a further word to encourage you who hear the message today. Serving the Lord can be demanding. Sometimes, even when we have done what we know honours the Master, the personal cost to us is high—so high that we wonder if we can continue to serve Him. At times, even our family may reject what we teach and even turn from the love we have for them. Child of God, don’t surrender to discouragement. Stand firm, trusting that the Lord Who loves you will ultimately exalt you in His time. Stand firm and honour Him always. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Bob Dylan, “Gotta’ Serve Somebody,” 1979 © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, AUDIAM, Inc.
