Take the Challenge!

23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”
24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.” Joshua 24:23-24 NIV
Before Joshua spoke to the Israelites, he gave them a Word from the Lord reminding them of where their journey had begun. Their journey began with their ancestors Abraham and Nahor and they served other gods before serving the Great I Am. The Lord gave Abraham, Isaac and all of the descendants that God had promised Abraham. God then reminded them of the journey out of Egypt and the miracles and victorious battles that God had given them. Then Joshua picked up where the Word of the Lord stopped.
Joshua told them that they should fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness. He then gave them “the challenge.”  He told them that they needed to choose whom they would serve. They could either pick the gods of their ancestors, or the gods of the people whom they had destroyed in battle because God had given them the victory or the Lord God. Joshua then told them “But for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
The Israelites answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt.” They went on to describe the victories that the Lord had given them and they finished with, “We, too, will serve the Lord, because He is our God.”
Joshua made sure that they understood the commitment that they were making. They made the declaration that they would serve the Lord. Then let’s pick up in verse 23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”
These are the same people who had just said, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods!” (vs. 16) Yet Joshua knew that they had foreign gods in their homes.  Joshua instructed the Israelites to respect and serve the Lord with all faithfulness.  He didn’t shame them but he did instruct them to get rid of their idols and to surrender their hearts to the Lord. Joshua made a declaration to serve the Lord. He challenged them to make a choice and they did. The Israelites made a commitment or a covenant to serve the Lord God and no one else.  Joshua gave them good teaching and instructions in cleaning out the areas of their lives that they had compromised.
How many of us claim that we serve the Lord God because He is good and He has been so faithful but still have other gods hidden in our living space? Can I challenge you today that if you have compromised in some (any) areas of your life, to clean those areas up? It is time to do a heart inventory and ask the Lord to show us what area of our lives need to be gone through and cleaned up. We serve the same God that Joshua served.  He deserves our respect and for us to serve him with all faithfulness.
Doing Some Cleaning of My Own,
Shanin

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