Joshua 24:14-18
In Korea, during the month of May, we celebrate family. Often, we think of the good times and love we experience with our family, but all of us can also think of the bad parts of family.
The first mission field is the family. We need to make sure that our family knows who God is and experience God. Joshua makes a declaration concerning him and his family.
Joshua 24:15 ESV
[15] 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.”
We need to fear God, and this means to put God first in everything. The first generation of Israelites who left Egypt to go to the promised land wanted to return to their old lives, culture and their old gods.
We might say that we are Christian families, but what is the focus in life? What is that you and your family serve?
Families are not built by words alone. When God is the centre, we are grateful. We might become anxious or sad, but we return to God when He is the centre. When we argue, we can forgive each other. Before we eat, we can take some time to pray to God.
When Joshua declares that he will serve God with his family, the people respond with the memories of grace.
Joshua 24:16-17 ESV
[16] Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, [17] 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.
When we remember how much God has given us and done for us, we experience gratitude. When we are grateful, our words change and this changes our situation.
By remembering grace and what God has done for us, we keep our focus on God. We must remember the answered prayers, the hardships God rescued us from and His intervention.
We can praise God now for what He has done for us. When we put off our praise to God, we start to lose focus on God. We start to focus on our problems and might look for other solutions. This is why Joshua calls on the people of Israel to make a choice today.
Even as Christians, we need to confess that God is Lord. We need to praise God and renew our faith.
When our lives are busy, when our lives are full of uncertainty, when our lives are experiencing pain, we will put God first and confess that he is our Lord.
