To Not Choose Is to Choose
“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.” Joshua 24:15
The people of Israel had crossed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land, had defeated Jericho and several other of the inhabitants of the land, and were ready to settle down. Joshua reminded them that all that they had received had been given to them by God. They had land, houses, cities, vineyards, and olive trees free for the taking, all by the grace of God. Why would they not desire to worship God and serve Him all of their lives? Joshua urged them to fear the LORD and serve Him with a sincere and truthful heart. Some of their ancestors had fallen into idolatry, but Joshua’s hope was that this blessed nation would always honor God and worship Him only.
Some folks say about certain matters that they do not have a choice, but others say that everyone always has a choice. The entirety of a person’s life is made up of all the decisions that he or she makes. Decisions can change the course of a person’s life. Good decisions lead to benefits while bad decisions usually lead to undesirable consequences. No human can make the right decision 100 percent of the time. Some choices are extremely difficult to make because the outcome is not clear. In those difficult cases, we must rely on the Lord, follow Biblical principles, and hope for the best. Everyone has a need to have faith in something. Either we place our faith in Jesus Christ and reap the benefits of righteousness, truth, and an eternal home in heaven, or we reject Him and put our faith in ourselves which will result in receiving the penalty for our own sins. Scripture gives us no other option. Joshua offered Israel a choice: if they believed it was evil to serve the LORD, they could worship other gods. It seems strange to think of serving the LORD as an evil thing to do, but there were those, like today, who rejected God and became idolatrous. The addiction to sin was so great that they were blinded to the truth. Today nothing has changed except possibly how sin is becoming even more prevalent and more perverse.
We have a term today for decisions that are relatively easy to make–a “no-brainer”, which indicates that one doesn’t have to think very much about how to decide. Joshua had called on the people of Israel to make a choice as to whom they would serve, a false god or the true God. For him and his family, this decision was a “no-brainer”. He had served God his entire life. He knew the dangers of idolatry. He had reaped the benefit of following the LORD including God’s care, protection, and help in all that Joshua had done to lead God’s people. He was a man of integrity and a man loyal to the LORD and to Israel. He desired to set an example before the people. How did they respond?
First, a little background into the lives of the people of Israel. It is estimated that Israel began the journey to the promised land about 1441 B.C. Due to their disobedience, it took them 40 years to reach their destination, about 1401 B.C. Israel was ruled by Joshua from his age of 85 until his death at age 110, in approximately 1361 B.C. At that time, judges began to rule Israel. From the time of the escape from Egypt until Joshua’s death, about 65 years had passed which would indicate that everyone under the age of 65 years did not witness the parting of the Red Sea nor what it was like to be under bondage in Egypt. The point is that most of Israel had experienced God’s blessings, but little of His wrath for disobedience. When Joshua called them to decide to whom their allegiance would lie, they, as one of my former pastors used to say, decided without “reservation or hesitation” to diligently and completely follow the LORD God. They even asked God to forbid that they would ever desert Him and go after idols and strange gods. They all agreed and vowed to serve the LORD and make Him their one and only God.
Were the people as determined as Joshua to serve God and God alone? I think that they were sincere in their vow, but they weren’t prepared for the temptations which would come their way. Joshua determined that he and his family would serve God even if they were the only ones to do so. Joshua desired to not let outside influences or temptations destroy his relationship to God. It takes a strong faith and backbone to always stand for what’s right regardless of the outcome. My prayer is that many of us will be like Joshua and make the decision to always serve and depend on the Lord for strength to fight against the evil permeating our world today.