Joshua 24:15: And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye 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 ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua made this statement after God had given the Israelites the land He had promised (Josh. 24:13). Among the lessons from this statement are the important words “choose you this day.”
Obeying God is a choice. Joshua indicated what his choice was, but each of the Israelites had to make this choice for him or herself. Every person must choose to do what God commands.
The fact that obeying God is a choice hinders those who do not want to obey from having an excuse. To those who genuinely want to do what is right, however, having this choice is a comfort.
In 1 Corinthians 10, the Holy Spirit tells of the failures of the “exodus generation” of Israelites. They were God’s chosen people, but God was displeased with many of them (verse 5) for their lust, idolatry, fornication, murmuring, and other sins (verses 6-10).
In verses 11-12, it is pointed out that these individuals were written about for us to take heed that we do not follow their mistakes. Verse 12 says “Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall.”
The very next verse goes on to say “No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (verse 13).
Verse 12 teaches that we must be careful not to fall into sin. Verse 13 goes on to assure that we have a choice to avoid sin because God can be relied upon to provide a way of escape.
Together, these two verses teach that we must take Satan’s viciousness and deceitfulness seriously, yet recognize God’s faithfulness in providing us the choice to take the “way of escape.”
We have the ability to choose to serve the Lord. This is in many ways a comfort, but also calls us to take personal responsibility because we know that the choice is ours. May we, like Joshua, choose the path of righteousness.
– Michael Hickox