Who Do You Serve?

Who Do You Serve?

We are in the book of Judges and Joshua and I really wanted to analyze leadership choices and fought with that for several days before giving in to the realization that the Lord was not done having me address the issue of Who Do You Serve?

We start out looking at the issue of if the sun "really" stood still in the heavens to provide light while Joshua and his soldiers fought in Joshua 10:12-14.

Some people think that because its not part of science it can't be true. We have made a big deal of how most of the time the Lord follows His own rules of science. He really does - mostly. Not always.

The incident in Joshua is not the first nor the last time that the Lord has interfered with the natural order of things on Earth. He made it rain manna for the Children for 40 years. He brought water from stones, parted the Red Sea, when His son is born a star appears for the Wise Men to follow, when His Son dies there is darkness across the world for 3 days. There is the plague of locusts and turning the Nile to blood. Yes, most of the time He works within His established rules, but sometimes He doesn’t.

Next we look at Joshua's final address to his people before his death.  Now this has been a remarkable campaign in the Holy Land.  A string of successes: the defeat of Ai, building an alter and reading the word of the law to all the people, making the Gibeonites servants, defeating the Amorites, conquering the whole land. 33 Kings were defeated by Israel.  Only one failure, it took two tries to defeat Ai because of Achan.  A remarkable victory.  Yet Joshua knows all to well Israels pattern after victories, to fall away from the Lord. 

The Children of Israel have a history to this point of backsliding. They make promises to the Lord and then forget Him and the promises. At this point now after 40 years with Moses (2 generations) and then years of war taking the promised land Joshua does not want to see them forget again in the promised land and takes heed to warn them. They have a new home, they have a written law, everything is laid out before them and they can prosper here but if they forget the Lord here they will lose everything and he is letting them know it is up to them.

Many of the times we are no differnet if often exactly backward from the Children in this regard. We turn to the Lord in times of trial, in times of need, and fall away in plenty. If we are to serve the Lord in our whole heart it must be in all times and in all ways.