Title: Serve the Lord...
We live our lives by constantly making choices and making decisions. And our lives are greatly changed by those choices and decisions. In particular, it can be said that the life of faith is a daily choice. Joshua thought that he was going to die soon, so he urged the people of Israel to serve only God. Joshua knew all too well that the future of Israel depended solely on it. This is also true for us today. We are now in the new year. Everything we do in the new year also depends on how we serve God. Therefore, these words are a very urgent and important lesson for us as we enter the new year.
because you saved me
Why should we serve only God? This is because God has saved us from sin and death and the devil's slavery and has called us to the kingdom of glorious blessing. The Israelites responded to Joshua's words to serve only God. “For the Lord our God Himself brought us and our ancestors up out of the land of slavery in the land of Egypt, and performed those great wonders before our eyes, and protected us from all the peoples we went through and all the ways we walked. And the LORD has driven out from before us all the peoples and the Amorites who dwelt in the land; therefore we will serve the LORD, for he is our God” (verses 17-18).
Israel was a miserable and hopeless slave in Egypt. But God saved them by his great power. He made them cross the Red Sea and destroyed Pharaoh's pursuing army in the sea. He completely saved Israel from threatening Israel any longer. He saved them from slavery and made them cross the Red Sea, so it was right for the people of Israel to serve only God.
We too were slaves to sin and death, but the Lord saved us. Satan no longer has control over us. The law no longer condemns us. We are saved from sin and death. We will enter the kingdom of eternal glory. What more could you ask for? If so, now I can only be thankful and only rejoice. Now we must serve only God. In the new year, thank you for the grace of salvation more fervently, and I hope that you will become a saint who only serves God better.
to be blessed
The reason we should serve only God is because God has saved us. Another reason is that our blessing depends on it. “Behold, I have set before you today life and blessing, death and evil, that I command you today to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, his decrees, and his decrees, that you may live and multiply. For the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are going to take possession of. Your days will not be long in the land you will possess.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-18)
It is only by the grace of God that we are saved. However, in order to receive blessings after being saved, you must serve God well and obey His Word. What will happen if the saved saints do not serve God well? Joshua warned: “If ye forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, even after he has blessed you, he will turn and bring calamity upon you and destroy you” (verse 20).
Remember it well. To be blessed, we must serve God well. Over the past year, God has given us so much grace. In the new year, God will give us more abundant grace. While praying at the end of last year, I had one earnest wish in my heart. It is to receive abundant blessings personally for our members in the new year. I hope that you will recover from illness, be materially stable, and your children will prosper. To do this, we must serve God well. Above all else, we must completely obey the Word of God. In the new year, I hope that you will become a saint who will receive abundant blessings by serving God better.
impossible on our own
The Israelites responded to Joshua's call and urging to serve only God. “The people answered and said, ‘We will by no means forsake the Lord and serve other gods’ (verse 16). But Joshua says they will not be able to serve God. “Then Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for he is a holy God, a jealous God, and he will not forgive your sins and your sins” (verse 19).
The people vow to serve only God, but Joshua says that is impossible. Why would you say that? What Joshua said is true. God is holy and perfect, but we are false and weak and always fail. No matter how hard we try not to sin, we sin again. I promise to always live by faith and walk with God, but I can't. In Romans we see ourselves wrestling and lamenting over this problem. “I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my heart, and taking me captive by the law of sin that is in my members. shall I deliver it?”
Peter vowed not to deny the Lord no matter what. But the Lord said that Peter would deny Him three times. Peter took an oath, promising that he would never forsake or deny the Lord, even if he were to die. “Peter said to him, “Even if I die with you, I will not deny you.” And all the disciples said the same thing” (Matthew 26:35). But that night, Peter denied the Lord three times and wept bitterly. “He cursed and swore, saying, “I do not know the man.” Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” So he went outside and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:74). 75)
This is what we are. How often do we promise that we will serve the Lord well, and now that we will do well in our faith life? However, we have never been able to properly keep that promise and resolution. In our own strength, this is impossible. A person who is confident that he can do anything is still someone who doesn't know what to do. We cannot do anything on our own. Because we don't know it, we keep making wrong decisions, and we are living a life that is always biased.
Apart from the Lord, we can do nothing. “I am the vine, and you are the branches; if he abides in me, and I in him, a man bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We must seek God's grace. And I must always obey the Holy Spirit who works in me. Then you can live a life that fully serves God.
obey
The Israelites vowed not only to serve God fully, but also to obey God's voice. “The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God, and we will obey his voice” (verse 24). So, how do you specifically listen to God's voice?
A deacon in our church had a hard time finding a job as he got older. From day one, I made it clear to my boss that I couldn't work on weekdays. After that, no matter how busy the company was, he never went to work on Sundays. Instead, he worked more diligently on weekdays than anyone else. Eventually, the company recognized him and treated him with genuine respect and respect.
To obey God's voice means to hear and obey God's Word. No matter how hard you go to church, if you don't obey God's word, your faith will not grow. And we cannot experience the grace and power of God. How many years have you been starting your religious life now? Are you obeying God's Word no matter what? The reason God's work does not occur in our lives today is because we do not completely obey God's Word. In the new year, I hope that you will become a saint who not only listens to God's word and meditates on it, but also completely obeys it. Therefore, I hope that you will become a member who can experience God's amazing grace and power abundantly.
resolve
The Israelites listened to Joshua's command and decided to serve only God. “The people answered and said, “We will by no means forsake the Lord and serve other gods” (verse 16). “Therefore we will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” “No, we will serve the Lord.” (verse 21) “The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God, and we will obey his voice” (verse 24).
In order for us to live our life of faith well, we need to make new decisions every day. And you have to risk your life to keep that decision. Daniel was determined not to defile himself with the king's delicacies offered to idols in Babylon. To Daniel, who risked his life to keep the purity of his faith, God gave him amazing wisdom and prosperity. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have died if they had died, so they decided not to bow down to idols. So he was eventually thrown into a fiery furnace. But God kept them from scorching their skin. Josiah became king at a young age, and he decided to seek God alone. So they removed all idols, cleaned the temple, and restored worship. God has given Judah a great revival. Paul decided to give his life to preach the gospel. God used Paul in the greatest way in human history.
Today, we also need this determination. What resolutions did you make in the new year? Are you determined to serve only God from now on? Are you now determined to keep your faith and obey the Word? Make sure you risk your life to keep that resolution. The success or failure of our lives this year depends on it. May you become the saints who overcome through faith.*