Mar 3 Vote For God

Mar 3

Vote For God

Jos 24:15, choose you this day whom ye will serve

Hanging on the wall of many Christian homes is a little plaque announcing “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” It is a pleasant thought. It is an admirable thing to strive for. But I have to wonder if it is even possible in today’s electronic media driven culture.

     Why did Joshua even say such a thing? He wanted the people he had led into the promised land to know how he had voted. He had voted for God.

     The battle for the promised land had been won a long time ago. (Jos 23:1) Joshua was now getting to the end of his life. He wanted to leave the nation with the best possible advice he could. So when he waxed old he called for all of Israel.

He reminded them of the faithfulness of God and reminded them of all the times that God had fought for them. Then in Chapter 24 he reminds them that Abraham’s father served idols. (24:2) Then follows several verses where the mighty acts of God are recalled from Abraham down into Egypt, into the wilderness and finally the conquest of the Promised Land. In all these things God had led them, provided for them and blessed them.

       In verse 13 Joshua reminds them that they have it pretty good now.  The people were settled down to enjoy the houses they had not built and the vineyards they had not planted.  The land was at peace although not every nation had been defeated. Joshua was concerned that all the work they had done would be lost if the people turned to idols. He knew God would not tolerate it and would punish the people.

         So he puts it to them as a vote. Choose now. Here are the candidates. Abraham’s father worshipped gods. Maybe you want to stay with your ancestral traditions. Do what your family has always done. Or you could remember Egypt with all its delights and choose one of their gods. The world has a lot to offer and it is a thing that satisfies the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

1Jo 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

One other candidate is not mentioned here but is the elephant in the room. Joshua had mentioned it in 23:7 There were still idol worshipping nations among them. The individual tribes were supposed to subdue these nations. Joshua reminded them to not mingle with them, or permit marriages, or worship their gods. (23:7, 12-13) Otherwise those nations that remained among them would become snares, traps, scourges and thorns in their eyes. (Ouch!)

 

So there are the candidates. 1. You may vote for what your ancestors, your family, has always practiced. Or 2, You can vote for what the world has to offer and worship their idols (odd that we have a popular TV program called American Idol!) Or 3, You could join in with what your neighbors and local society did, and worship their idols.

In verse 15 Joshua said ”

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...

Then he tells them that he has voted for God and he and his house will serve the LORD.

Today we live in a different culture, a different time and face different challenges. The lines are blurred.  The choices are more difficult. If your family has always been part of a particular faith it is not easy to walk away from that.

Then again the world does have a lot to offer. We have trouble keeping the world out of church let alone our homes.

Finally the society around us has established norms of behavior. Getting drunk at a wedding reception isn’t seen as a bad thing. Add to that dozens of other “norms” that are required for you to be seen as a “regular guy”.  And remember it is not polite to discuss religion or politics.

Or……you could vote with Joshua. It is a costly vote. It is also a vote against your traditions, the world and social pressures which are contrary to serving God. You may not split your vote – God 80%, world 15%, friends and neighbors 5%

If you vote to serve God 100% your kin folk may not understand, the world will pass laws against your practicing your faith, and your neighbors won’t invite you to the block New Years party. You might lose  friends, even some who attend church.  Joshua was speaking for himself and his house. Getting everyone who resides in your house to serve the LORD may be nearly impossible.

Joshua’s plea for them to choose whom they would serve is really no choice at all. Every choice, except for God, may be a good short term solution with bad long term consequences.

Probably everyone who reads this blog has already decided that they will serve God and not idols. But the question for today is not who you choose. That is a given. The devotional thought today is could you hang that common sign in your house. “But as for me and my house we will serve the LORD”? Or would you need to make some changes first.  No, not changes to the sign;  “But as for me and my house we will serve the LORD 82% of the time” I meant changes to you and your house.

I fear I have been in more houses where that sign was hanging then I have been in houses that served the Lord in the way Joshua described. So, there is the thought for today. Could you hang that sign in your house….and mean it? 

I need to go now. I have to think about that question for my house!