Where Do We Go From Here?
Where Do We Go From Here?
What will we choose?
Joshua 24:15 And if it seems evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua convened the tribes at Shechem to renew their oath of covenant loyalty. Joshua was concerned that the people not lapse into idolatry because of the influence of the heathen nations around them. Israel was prone to worship idols, and Joshua knew that idolatry would cause them to forfeit God’s blessings.
The choice laid out here for Israel was a breathtaking one. The language about choice is not found elsewhere in the Old Testament. Normally, God was the one who did the choosing, having chosen Israel from among the nations to be His people. However, here Israel was being asked to choose her loyalties.
What will we choose to be and to do?
When God brings us to salvation, the most remarkable thing we see is that He transforms our hungers.
He changes not just what we do, but what we want to do. In our commitment to Christ and new walk, we make choices that help shape the design into something beautiful. These are the wills and the won’ts.
But yesterday’s victory does not guarantee tomorrow’s.
What is our purpose?
Purpose should set and determine our choices. Joshua said ‘You must choose .” That means now. The choices we make today will influence and determine the fulfillment of our purpose—to live for self or to live for Jesus.
Today, making a choice to follow God entails one huge non-negotiable commitment: to recognize the mission of your life not so much as a profession, but as a measuring stick by which you will gauge your progress for life itself.
What often destroys our lives is getting sidetracked into secondary pursuits. Joshua reminds us that each of us must deliberately choose whom we will serve. It will be helpful to understand our purpose and write it down. Keep it somewhere in a prominent spot so that you will continu-ally be reminded of that purpose.
What Will We Choose Today?
My will, the world’s will, or God’s will?
So where does one begin to submit to God’s will? We must begin with self-crucifixion. We must go to our own funeral and bury the self-will so that God’s will can reign supremely in our hearts. Our will has no power to do God’s will until it first dies to its own desires and the Holy Spirit brings a fresh power within.
Convictions Affect Our Purpose
The will is both the framer of my convictions and the efficient cause in honoring these convictions.
Setting convictions in place gives me guidelines regarding where to draw the lines. We live within a zone today where the lines get blurred. That is why the broad category of setting life’s purpose first and then measuring each moment by this purpose is so important. Others may believe it’s about rules. Instead, it’s about your heart, mind, and soul, and your life and reason for being.
A conviction is not merely an opinion. It is something rooted so deeply in the conscience that to change a conviction would be to change the very essence of who you are.
A Warning About Our Will
Concerning our will: the more one surrenders convictions and neglects discipline, the more one gradually changes one’s own hungers and desires. History is full of faltering wills that have reshaped the future with astonishing impact.
David and the Philistines, 2 Samuel 23:15–17. He could not accept a gift that had jeopardized the lives of others in order to bring him delight. What would have happened if David had reacted the same way when he saw Bathsheba?
A disciplined life that leads to the power to say no, not for selfish gain, but for higher purposes, eluded David. That one poor choice led him to make other choices that were devastating to a compromised life and created an appetite for many wrong things. There are many angles at which you can fall and
only one angle at which you can stand straight. ~G. K. Chesterton
The next time you think about the power of your will, think not just of the immediate choice, but of all the other compromises to which one ill-advised choice could lead.
Joshua says, For God’s sake and for your sake, make a decision. He’s urging people not to get hung up in indecision and not to splatter little bits of faith all over the place.
What will we choose today?
The people rose to Joshua’s challenge and promised to serve the Lord, not other gods. Joshua 24:16
Joshua reminds them in verse 19 that we cannot serve the Lord by personal resolution only. The assistance of divine grace is required, as well as serious conversion from all idols, and true repentance and faith. Rise to the challenge! Don’t settle.
Congratulations Graduates!