Joshua 24:14-18: a reflection

14“Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve the LORD. 15If it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” 16The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 17for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed. 18The LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD; for he is our God.”

At the end of his life, Joshua calls Israel to a decision. Choose this day whom you will serve, he says, whether the gods your fathers served, or the gods of the land you now live in; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. He will not let them drift along in vague, undecided allegiance; he presses them to make a definite choice, and he declares his own without hesitation. And the people respond, choosing to serve the LORD who brought them out of Egypt.

Notice that Joshua demands a decision, not a drift. Faith, for Joshua, is not a matter of vaguely going along, keeping options open, serving God halfheartedly while hedging toward other gods. It is a choice, a definite decision of whom you will serve, made deliberately. Joshua models it: as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. He has decided, and he calls the people to decide too, clearly and definitely.

That call still stands. It is possible to drift through life in a vague, undecided religiosity, never quite choosing, keeping God at the edges while serving other things, hedging our commitment. Joshua confronts that drift with a demand for decision: choose this day whom you will serve. Faith is a deliberate choice, renewed daily, of whom we will serve. Do not drift; decide. Choose, today and each day, to serve the Lord, and say with Joshua, whatever others do, as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. A drifting allegiance serves no one well; make your choice, and serve God wholly.

Lord, Joshua called your people to choose that day whom they would serve, and declared his own allegiance without hesitation: as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Confront my own drift with that call. Keep me from a vague, undecided religiosity that never quite chooses, that keeps you at the edges while serving other things, hedging my commitment. Faith is a deliberate choice; help me make it, today and each day. Let me decide, clearly and wholly, to serve you, and to say with Joshua, whatever others do, as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Keep me from drifting, and hold me to the choice to serve you.