Click to read Joshua 24
(The previous 9 chapters can be accessed through the links on the side bar. To access chapters before those listed, go to the All Chapters section.)
Synopsis
Before Joshua, the nation was told of all the things that God had done for Israel. They were reminded that God had kept and fulfilled all His promises to them. Joshua also challenged the nation to be faithful to God and asked them to choose. He declared those famous words, ".... as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." This passage ends with Joshua and the nation of Israel making a covenant at Shechem to faithfully serve the Lord.
Major Verses
V14-18 - The people had to decide whether they would obey God, or, obey the pagan's idols. It was a choice that each of them had to make. Joshua declared that he and his household chose to serve God. And so did the nation.
What I learnt
We also have to choose who we want to serve. There are three common choices : 1) God, 2) ourself, 3) gods of the world. It is easy, if we are not careful, to slip into a quiet rebellion against God as we go about life in our own way. Worst still, we may slip into associations with the world's belief. To keep the heavenly road, we must constantly affirm our choice of believing in the true God, our loving Abba Father. Let's affirm this choice on a daily basis.
V23 - 27 - Joshua asked the nation to "throw away the foreign gods and yield your hearts to the Lord, God of Israel." The people obeyed and Joshua made a covenant for the people and used a large stone as a visual reminder of their choice.
What I learnt
A choice to follow God, requires one to destroy whatever that gets in the way of worshiping Him. All of us has our own form of idols; greed, self, wrong priorities, prejudices, jealousies etc. These get in the way of worshiping God. God is not satisfied that we just hide these idols, He wants us to get rid of them completely. We need to make a choice and remember that we had chosen to serve Him. It would be impossible to do it with our own strength. Ask the Holy Spirit's help to overcome the temptation to go back to our old ways after we have chosen to serve Him. He will not fail us! Praise the Lord
Summary
The book of Joshua brought to us an understanding of God's faithfulness to His people. God kept and fulfilled every promise He made with Abraham and Moses for Israel. It also tells us about the need to trust Him completely. Obedience is the key to a God-given successes. Afterall, God is the One fighting the battle for us.
Joshua and Caleb stood out to be the faithful servants who believed God's word to the dot. With God's strength, their youthfulness and courage never left them; age did not weaken their body nor their mind. They believed God's words and acted upon them diligently.
Joshua preached a consistent message to Israel, and to us all. That message is "God is faithful and will keep all His promises to us, only be strong and courageous and choose to serve Him."
Next up ....
I don't know. I have posted my learnings for the last 6 months. I had hope that I would draw discussions and mutual encouragements from readers. Unfortunately, this seemed not to be the case. In fact, I do not even know if anyone is reading this blog as there is no comment or response.
I am not disappointed. In keeping a weekly schedule for this blog, the Lord had blessed me with my own understanding of His words. I am glad that I blogged my learnings, for in doing so, I learnt much from Him and about Him.
God bless ... for indeed, the word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path (Psm 119:105).
Steven - the one that Jesus loves!
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