Title The Feast's Pledge (Joshua 24:14-18)
Contents
Genghis Khan, the first king of the Mongol Empire, who built a great empire spanning the East and West by conquering Central Asia and the West, had his sons fight over the succession position during their lifetime, so he had his sons bring a stick one by one. At first, each person was asked to take a stick and break it. Mature sons easily broke it. Then he told them to put together all the sticks the sons had brought and break them. It wasn't easy. It is said that Genghis Khan saw this and made a will to his sons to unite with the brothers after his death and make the country stronger.
After Moses, Joshua led the Israelites to conquer the land of Canaan and, according to the word of God, distributed the land to the twelve tribes. Eventually, Joshua realized that death was imminent because he was too old. So Joshua called the leaders of the people of Israel and asked God to God. As we have done so far, it is to draw near to God and to love God (chapter 23).
Also, Joshua brought all the people of Israel together at Shechem. And it reminded the people of the wonderful things God has done so far. When God said that he left Egypt and settled here in Canaan, got a house he had not built, and ate the fruit of the vineyard and olive grove that he had not planted, no one could deny this fact. Then Joshua demanded a decision from the people.
“Therefore, now fear the Lord and serve him with integrity and truth. Put away the gods that your ancestors worshiped beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord alone. If it does not seem good to you to serve the Lord, choose today whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the river or the Amorites in the land where you live. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (14-15).
Joshua's death-defying proposal continues to this day, thousands of years later. Elijah also spoke to the people who were unable to decide between Baal and God.
“How long will you hesitate between the two? If the LORD is God, follow him; if Baal is God, follow him.”
Faith is optional and essential
People often say, "It doesn't matter which religion you believe in, because all religions are alike." It is also said that ‘religion is freedom’. So no one can coerce, no coercion, no need to coerce. It claims that all people have the freedom to choose their religion, and even the freedom not to lead a religious life. Freedom of religious events, assembly, missions, or religious education may be restricted by law for the sake of national security, order maintenance, and public welfare, but freedom of religion itself cannot be restricted by any law.
If we look at the world history and human cultural history, we can see that the influence of religion on the people and society is really great. Each person's thoughts, spirits, morals, and life depend on religion, so we must have a religion but choose the true religion. Because even if you have the freedom to choose your faith, you cannot be free from the consequences of your choice.
Just as there is freedom of choice, you must take responsibility for the consequences of your choices. Whether serving God or serving other gods, it is the freedom of faith given to all people guaranteed by the Constitution. But serving God and serving his Son, Jesus Christ, is the best option. It should be noted that, “There is a way that is right in the eyes of a man, but in the end it is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
Most people agree that “going to church and serving God is a good thing.” Others admit, saying, “It is good for a person to have faith in whatever object he believes.” Others ask, "Isn't it more important to express it outwardly or to believe in the heart?"
However, acknowledging the fact that living a life of faith is a good thing does not mean that. It's not about believing in your heart. Faith must lead to active actions: choosing, deciding, acknowledging, and relying on.
“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9). -10)
As such, the importance of selection is indescribable. The choice is yours. However, depending on how wise the choice is, that person's life will change. A wise choice is by no means a bold choice or a lucky choice. A wise choice means a choice like Joshua. Because Joshua chose the blessed way to serve Jehovah from generation to generation forever.
But in Matthew 27:17-22, the chief priests, elders, scribes, and Jews forsook Jesus Christ and chose Barabbas the thief. So they had to take responsibility for the consequences of their choices. It had to be paid for. As long as we live in this world, we continue to be on the road of choice. The important thing is that those who make wise choices receive 'eternal blessing' from God, but those who do not have 'there is no way to escape the eternal curse'.
There are many things in the world that we have to choose for ourselves. After becoming a believer through a great choice, another choice is still required. This is because there is a wide road and a narrow and rough road on the path of faith.
Now for us, the question of which side to take is a thing of the past. All because they have chosen the right path of faith in Jesus Christ. We no longer have any doubts about the matter of faith, and there is no need for any debate. Because the Bible, the Word of God, which is the standard of our faith, is in our hands. It is wrong to believe that the Bible is not the standard. As long as we have the Bible, our faith is always clear. Therefore, faith must always be clear and thorough. Please believe that you will never regret the great choices you have made.
Passing on faith is important
Joshua, who has served only Jehovah God for 110 years, clearly says, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Here, ‘I’ refers to myself, and ‘my house’ refers to my descendants. ‘I’ means the present, and ‘my house’ means the future. In a word, it means that we will pass on our present beliefs to our future descendants in the future. We too should always declare clearly, “As for me and my house, we will serve only God and His Son, Jesus Christ.”
We humans have something called ‘hereditary’ that we inherit from our ancestors. All people born into the world of unclean blood inherit everything from their ancestors, not only in appearance and personality, but also in ideas, emotions, habits, and talents. However, there are some good ones and some bad ones. Countries and people who inherit a lot of good things prosper, but countries and people who inherit a lot of bad things become unhappy and eventually perish. We inherited many good things from our ancestors, but we also inherited the sin of unbelief.
However, we believers have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the evil sins of unbelief that we inherited from our carnal ancestors have been sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ, and we have become new people.
Therefore, we must now serve Jehovah God while we are alive, and we must pass down the faith to serve Jehovah in our “house” to the next generation. In other words, we must pass on the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob to our descendants. No one can deny that the transmission of the faith is the most precious of all heritages.
“This faith was first in your maternal grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that it is also in you” (2 Timothy 1:5).
I can't be missing, my house can't serve Jesus, my house can't go out, and I can't be the only one serving Jesus. It means that our children and grandchildren have the freedom of faith, so we should not let them do what they want and think that it is only necessary to believe in Jesus.
The God we serve has delivered me from the pit of sin just as he saved the Israelites from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Just as you fed and clothed the people of Israel in the wilderness, you have fed me without want and clothed me so that I am not naked. Just as you led the people of Israel with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, you have led me this far. Just as he protected the people of Israel from wild beasts and Gentiles, he protected me and my family from the harsh sects of an evil world.
Therefore, I can never serve another god. Not only me, but also my family and I must resolve to serve only Jehovah God and His Son, Jesus Christ. No matter what other people do or who they choose, me and my family must trust and serve only the Lord.
Peter said, “Lord, you have the word of eternal life; to whom shall we go?” (John 6:68). Where can I go apart from the Lord who has been good to me so far? Where can we find a better master than our Lord? Who else but God can take responsibility for the future of me and my family? Therefore, this morning as well as this holiday morning, at the gatherings of the whole family, we must once again declare and make a promise, 'As for me and my house, we will serve only the Lord.'
We must once again make a clear decision of what to do before our lives are over. You should not be satisfied with your own beliefs alone. You should also pay attention to the faith of your family and friends. Some people even go to people with different skin colors and preach the gospel. Today, if we are indifferent to our close family members, we are very sorry before God. Keeping in mind that this holiday is a good opportunity for family evangelization, I pray that you will become messengers of good faith with the same determination and will as Joshua.