“But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
The above verse is one of the most famous verses from all the Old Testament. The people have come to the Promised Land and there they encounter several tribes of people, all who have their own religions and their own gods. The temptation to see a variety of choices and follow gods other than the one who had led them out of slavery and into the freedom of the promised land.
Joshua confronts them and offers them a choice. It is most likely rhetorical – he doesn’t hope they will choose other gods. And to ensure that they are likely to stay with the God who has set them free, Joshua makes the above statement. No matter what the people will decide, Joshua will remain loyal to the God of Israel.
The story calls us to ask the same question. In the midst of the world in which we live – one that pulls us in many directions – how will we live our life and what choices will we make based on our faith? For those of us in households, how will we talk about with the other people with whom we share a home? With pulls in so many directions, is it possible to make God the highest priority in your life and then put all other things in perspective? While Jesus makes God much more tangible for Christians today, his call is still the same to us: You shall love the Lord with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your strength and all your mind.
God’s love for you is assured no matter what. But God’s desire is to be first in your life.
