By Elder Samuel Chan
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness.…. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, …. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15
We have come to the last chapter of the book of Joshua. It records Joshua's final exhortation to the Israelites before his death, which is a message from his heart to the Israelites. This message highlights God’s expectations for the Israelites and also remind us of God’s expectations for us.
Joshua first reminded the Israelites how Jehovah led Abraham to follow and serve Him, and how He called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Joshua told them that God had never forgotten His promises and always guided them, even through the wilderness. Blessings were bestowed upon them. God later led them into the land of Canaan through Joshua, and though they experienced different battles one after another, they were led to understand deeply who fought for them and made them more than victorious.
We have studied the entire book of Joshua. Do we still remember the words shared by the preachers? Do these truths still exist in our hearts? The last chapter of Joshua reminds us that the most important decision we will make in life is whether we are willing to serve God our Heavenly Father, who once saved us through the redeeming love of Jesus Christ and is now willing to walk with us and guide us all our days.
As Joshua reminds us, "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve" this is a choice we will have to reaffirm again and again due to different circumstances or problems we face. Instead of following the general trend of the world, we are to choose to believe and follow the guidance that comes from God’s Word.
Practically, how do we choose to follow God in our lives? In the morning, we can choose to have our devotion before doing other things; we can choose to set aside a certain time to participate in small groups or spiritual pursuits before we do what we like; we can choose to worship in person together with our fellow brothers and sisters than to watch the online worship at home as a matter of personal preference. And as a member of the church, we can choose to follow the mission and vision God has given the church, and to serve and take part in different areas where help is needed.
We make many choices, big and small, every day. How will we choose? Will we choose to serve God or our own interests? I pray that all of us can say with determination like Joshua: “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
The Lord once commended someone for choosing the one thing that matters above all “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42). The Lord reminds us here that while there often seems to be many different needs to meet or things to do in our lives, only one is needed - to seize the opportunity to listen to the Lord’s teachings and find rest in Him. When we choose to seek Jesus, we will experience His presence in our work, family, and church life, thereby strengthening our faith in following Him. And when, by faith, we are empowered to do more good works, others will see and glorify our Father God.
This is not an easy task because Satan will use many ways to hinder us. He will tempt us to drift away from our faith in this crooked and depraved generation. He will keep us from sharing the good news and our Christian faith with people around us, and minimise the impact we can make on the West Coast community which we have been in for more than 39 years. The only way to not be hindered is if every single one of us chooses to follow God, serve Him and do the good work He has prepared for us together. May we all choose the blessing of listening to God, following Him and doing what He has asked us to do every day.
To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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