Choose This Day...

But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.--Joshua 22:5

Joshua gives the children of Israel his farewell address in Chapter 23 and tells them to take careful heed to love the Lord their God.  In Chapter 24, Joshua tells the Israelites to choose whom they will serve.  Serving is what this devotional is about but Joshua got it in the right order.  I serve my family because I love them.  Loving them makes me want to care for them and serve them.  Serving God should following loving Him. You see if we truly, truly understand in our hearts what our God has done for us, we will love Him and our desire will be to serve Him.   Our love for Him will compel us!  He who has been forgiven much loves much.  God's love is outlined for us in 1 Corinthians 13.  Read verses 1-3:

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing."

Love should be the motivating force behind all that we do.  Without love as the Scripture says we are nothing and even if I give my body to be burned, it profits me nothing. We serve our God because we "love" to...not because we "have" to.  

Joshua spends the first part of chapter 24 reminding the people that God had done it all for them.  All that they had and saw were gifts from His hand.  In Joshua 24:14-15 he puts the choice to the people and asks them to choose whom they will serve.

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.  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.

The only way to serve God rightly is in sincerity and in truth.  Serving God in any other way is a lie and will be fraught with wrong motives.  It is anything but peaceable and pure and as James says, "

"For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."

Make no mistake each one of us will choose the "god" we will serve.  We will either be impassioned and influenced by the God of Israel allowing Him to be our focal point, our Master, our Savior and our Lord or we will be devoted to arranging our lives around some other passion...money, pleasure, knowledge, etc.  I love how Joshua points out how foolish they would be to serve another God.  The Israelites were not making a blind leap of faith in choosing to serve the Lord...they saw His might and His power...they witnessed His miracles.  Let's look at some other verses that talk about serving.

And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.--1 Samuel 7:3

And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;  And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.--1 Samuel 12:20

Samuel warns them not to turn aside from serving and following the Lord, but reminds them to serve Him with all of their hearts.  This "whole heart" message is repeated often in Scripture.  It is so like us to  go after vain things...things that might provide us with temporary relief or temporary distraction but in the end only increase our misery.  They will not profit nor deliver as Samuel says.  In fact, they will keep us from cleaving unto our God and take us out of the place of blessing.  The more we look up to Jesus the more these things will grow dim in the light of His glory and grace. 

Jesus also warns us not to have a divided heart.

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.--Matthew 4:10

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.--Matthew 6:24

If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.--John 12:26

If we are cleaving unto our Lord, then wherever He is, we will be also...ready, willing and available to serve...separated unto the gospel of Christ.  His presence will be with us and will go before us in whatever we face and whatever we do.  If we are nigh unto Him (as a good servant always is) we will  consider His desires before our own...we will listen and wait for His commands...and we will know and pray for those things that He desires.  What does God desire...that His people stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.  

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.--Colossians 4:12

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;--Romans 1:9

Hearken to the Lord's voice.  Love Him with all of your heart.  Walk in His ways and keep His commandments.  Cleave unto HIm.   Serve Him with a thankful and grateful heart for all He has done.  Seek to please Him and not man for it is from Him that your reward will come.

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.--Galatians 1:10

Cleaving...

THE CHARGE:  But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.--Joshua 22:5

Looking today at Joshua's charge to "cleave unto Him".  I looked up the word cleave in the online Blue Letter Bible and came up with the following definition.

Cleave:  To cling, stick, stay close, cleave, keep close, stick to, stick with, follow closely, join to, overtake, catch up, follow hard, keep fast, abide....to adhere especially firmly as if with glue; to be glued...to be attached to someone and lovingly devoted.

It is the Lord, our God, we are to cleave unto.  Look at that definition....it really gives us no wiggle room.  Our God is to be always on our minds....always on our hearts.....always in our sight.  Nothing should interfere with our relationship with Him.

Staying close to our God keeps us safe, protected, blessed and nurtured.   When we stay close to Him, acknowledging His sovereignty and control in our lives, He handles all things that come our way.  We can take shelter in His presence and allow Him to perform all things for us and make perfect that which concerns us.  Staying close to our Lord enables us to hear His voice and keeps us from losing our way.  We can walk in His footsteps and even have His right hand uphold us as we walk.

Clinging to God takes a putting aside of pride and self will.  It was a decision for the children of Israel that really was a no brainer when they looked at the evidence.  Unfortunately pride has a way of getting in the way of rational thought.   It got in the children of Israel's way and it gets in our way, also.   It was the Lord who had driven out the enemy from before them.  It was the Lord who parted the sea.  It was the Lord who fought for them. It was the Lord who enabled them to stand.  Cleaving to the Lord won the battles for the Israelites and it will win our battles as well.  In cleaving is protection.  The Lord will go before you.  He will warn you of snares, point out dangers, and smooth your path.  The Lord will remove those things from your life that interfere with your walk with Him....those things that cause you to lose sight of Him...those things which weigh you down and hinder you from following him closely.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Read Deuteronomy 4:3:


Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal–peor: for all the men that followed Baal–peor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.  But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. 

The message there:  Stay close to Jesus and live!

In Acts 11:23 Barnabas exhorts the people of Antioch "that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."  I like that!  To purpose in your heart about something is to decide ahead of time to do it no matter the cost.  When circumstances come up that require a choice, your decision is easy because it has already been made.  Purpose in your own heart to cleave unto Him alone.  Purpose to allow nothing to interfere with your relationship with Him.    You have decided that the Lord will be your support....that you will not look to the right or left, but will follow Him.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:9 to "cleave unto that which is good."  That which is good is God.  If you cleave unto Him, you will be embracing goodness and His grace and mercy will be with you and He will work all that occurs in your life...even those things your enemies mean for your harm...together for good because you love Him and have been called according to His purposes.

The God who created the heavens and the earth is nigh to us and is in all things that we call upon him for.  His law and His will for us is perfect and His heart one of love.  Do not let pride interfere with your decision to come to the Lord...do not let it interfere with your decision to stay close to the Lord.  Again pride blocks all rational thought.  Put it aside and get beyond it.  By faith surrender to your Lord...He is on your side....there is nothing to fear.  It is the only decision that makes sense.  It is the only decision that saves you and enables you to live forever with Him.

Take Heed - Part 2...Love

But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. jos.22.6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents.--Joshua 22:5-6

The land had been possessed!  Here Joshua is dismissing the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh in order that they could return to their land on the other side of the Jordan River.  This is his charge to them as they left.  This is God's charge to us.  This is my prayer for you and me.

Father,

Behold, what manner of love You have bestowed upon me, that I should be called your child!! You are a God who shows mercy unto thousands that love you and keep your commandments.  Help me, Lord, to love you with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me to love others as You love them...to walk in Your ways and to serve you with all that I possess.

Heaven and earth are the work of Your hands.  All that is in them is Yours.    I also am your handiwork.  I belong to You.  You have redeemed me with Your blood.  You have pulled me up out of the miry clay and have set my feet upon a rock.  You have blessed me with eternal life in the heavenly places.  Truly, Lord you deserve all my obedience.  You deserve all my praise. All glory and honor and thanksgiving belong to You.  You, O Lord, loved me and died for me when I was still your enemy.  You loved me when I was unloveable...You loved me first!   You chose me Father and You delight in me!!!!

And if that was not enough, You have not left me alone, but have sent Your Holy Spirit,  the Comforter, to abide with me forever.  You reveal Yourself to me, walk with me here as I journey and show me the path of life.   You make your home with me!  Because I love you and believe, You, Lord,  make all things in my life work together for good according to Your purposes.  When I die, the crown of life is mine...and not just mine only, but it belongs to all who love you!!

...And yet....despite all of this...I am still so stubborn, so prideful, so willful!  Soften my heart to seek You and Your grace more.  Help me, Lord, to put aside ME and MY desires.  Help me to want what You want.  Align my will with Your perfect one.   Obedience to You brings blessing.   Obedience is how Your love is made perfect in me.  Your word tells me that obedience is better than sacrifice and to love You is to keep your commandments.  Above all other things, Father, help me to put on love...love is the bond of perfection.