March 11, 2019
Joshua 24:14-15                             
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.  But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
New International Version (NIV)
What is the biggest decision you will make today?  So many of our decisions are inconsequential in the big scheme of things.  Most of us will decide something about clothing, food, route to work.  On most days, those decisions have no major consequences.  But some decisions are bigger than others. 

Joshua asked the Israelites for a commitment in a moment of decision.  “Choose this day whom you will serve. . .”  The Israelites had options.   They could serve the Lord who had led them out of the wilderness into the land, or they could worship the diminutive district deities of their new domain.  Joshua’s earnest pleading shows us how important the decision is.  If they chose well, they would live.  If not, they would not. 

“Choose this day whom you will serve . . .”  If everyone who had a plaque or coffee cup with these words on it lived these words, how different our lives would be.  Dallas Willard once said, “The Lord is my Shepherd” is written on more tombstones than lives.  Of all the decisions we make today, none will be more important for eternity than this:  Whom will we serve?  We can serve God or the glittering idols of self-sufficiency, temporal success, and great wealth.  But we can’t serve both.  Which will you choose? 

We can’t finally control others.  Joshua made his decision clear.  He committed himself and his whole household to serve God alone.  In the movie, We Bought a Zoo, Benjamin Mee says, “All you need is twenty seconds of insane courage and I promise you, something great will come of it.”  It is true.  When one person makes the right decision it can move a whole nation in the right direction.  Joshua did.  It is our turn.
Pray with me:    
Father, we can’t control what anybody else does today.  But we ask you to give us the insane courage to decide to follow you whole heartedly today.  We believe you are fully prepared to take responsibility for the lives of those who choose to serve you above all.  Give us courage we pray to decide to do your will and to do it.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen. 
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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