on having a choice to 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 forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15 (NIV)

ah, just reminded of the significance of this verse, which I read almost half a year ago. Joshua was the last among the generation of Moses, promised by the Lord that he will see the promised land. He was the successor of Moses, chosen to lead the next generation to go and claim forth the land. Though this generation of Israelites did not see the miracles of God when He led their fathers out of Egypt, they saw His miracles when they were conquering the land. And God grant Joshua and this generation peace and prosperity after they had go forth and settled in the land, despite the disobedience that these Israelites displayed at times.

So why did Joshua still presents a choice to the Israelites, in the closing chapters of this era? Is it to play the devil's advocate, to remind the Israelites that they didn't quite fulfil their destiny? Or to entice the Israelites to worship other gods by telling them they have a choice?

If you read the preceding verses before this, you can actually see that Joshua was painstakingly reminding the Israelites of the power of the Lord throughout the whole time of their journey. I'll like to think that Joshua was reminded of the short-term memory of his own generation, so much so that he feared that this generation will be like their fathers', quick to forget the goodness and awesomeness of their Lord Most High. So in fact, Joshua wasn't really giving them a choice.

Moreover, I also believed Joshua was modeling his own life for the rest of the Israelites. To put it in plain-speak, he could be also saying, "Right, chaps, I know you got lotsa gods in this area we're in, and some of you may even remember the ones that your fathers got before in the desert. If you REALLY want to worship those gods, then please yourselves. But for me and my household, there is NO choice. There is only one God, and that is the Lord most high." He was not only making a personal statement or decision here, he was declaring the sovereignty of the LORD in his life.

My personal take on this is that there is not much of a choice here, really. If you are not serving the Lord, then you are not serving the Lord. We cannot choose to serve the Lord, and other "gods" in our lives simultaneously. If you have made a decision to follow God, then follow Him fully.