and put away the gods which your fathers
served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
Insights: Yesterday we looked at Luke
16:13. In that verse Jesus said, “No
servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Today’s portion of Joshua 24:14 also plays
off of this Luke 16:13. In other words,
yesterday we looked at it from a service perspective. Today we look at it from an identification
perspective. Joshua is telling the
people of Israel they have to decide with whom they are going to give their allegiance. This choice is the basic choice all
individuals have to make. It is the
receiving of the gift of salvation Jesus offers or the rejection of that very
same gift. Taking the concept of Luke 16
a little further it is the total surrender to one master and total rejection of
another. Joshua is drawing a line in the
sand and telling Israel to cross the line and identify themselves with God or
remain and identify themselves with other gods.
The offer still stands today: with whom will you identify yourself, God
or this world? God is offering you this
free gift of eternal life. A gift you do
not deserve and cannot earn. The reason
for your inability to do anything
about your eternity is because you are a sinner and you can’t save
yourself. But God IS love and therefore
does not want to punish you. At the same
time, however, God is just and must punish sin.
He solves this apparent problem in the person of His Son, Jesus
Christ. He is the infinite God-man. In other words, He is fully God and fully
human at the same time. Jesus came to
this earth and lived among us. He died
on a cross for the payment of your sins.
He was buried, but on the third day He rose again. And now, by faith, you can receive and
identify yourself with this merciful God Joshua is telling you to choose. Faith is not just head knowledge of facts
about Jesus. Faith is not temporary
either. In other words, you can’t let
Jesus “fix” your present problem and then walk away from Him and think you
really belong to Him. Faith is an
eternal heart change where you trust in Him alone for eternal life. Beloved, choose with whom you are going to be
identified.
Questions:
- Have you received the free gift of eternal life found
in Jesus Christ?
- If not, what is holding you back?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for giving Your life as a ransom for
mine. As I choose You, may I have the
boldness to share Your love with those who do not know You. May they experience the same peace and joy
You have given to me. Amen.
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