Good day dear friends. Gracious is the Lord; may God's mercies be yours today in all that you may face; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Joshua 24: 1 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, 14 "Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." 16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; 18 and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God." (NRSV)
I was blessed growing up, thought I did not know it, when it came to worship and God. I was never given a choice as to my presence and participation in church. I had to be there. My father and mother made the decision even before I was born as to the importance of God and worship in their marriage and as God blessed them with children, they made the decision for their children. It was on a Sunday morning that I came to know the love of God through Jesus Christ. It was something that my minister said and I invited Jesus into my heart and into my life. From that moment on, going to church and all that goes in worship, etc., made sense. The evidence would come years later when I found myself working on a Sunday morning at my college; doing precisely what I had hoped I would never have to do, work on a Sunday. As the assignments were made for our work-study program, I knew ahead of time that for the first time in my life, instead of being in church I would be in a cafeteria, washing dishes at both breakfast and lunch. I quickly checked around and found out that First United Methodist Church, a little over a mile from the campus, had a Sunday evening worship service. Yes, this was years ago. I knew where I had to be Sunday night, and I talked a group of other cafeteria workers into going with me to worship God that night. We were received like family and though, for the first time in my life, I was worshipping in a different language, I knew the hymns and I could sing my praises to God.
Joshua had assembled the people of Israel and asked them to consider setting the pace for their lives. I recommend you read the entire chapter, but in the passages selected by the Lecti0nary, it is God speaking through Joshua about all that God has done and all that is before them. The words come strong, God has done a lot for us and it would serve us best to not be tempted by the gods of the people whose land we are about to occupy; but, if you decide you do not want to serve the Lord, you better decide now what gods you will serve. Then Joshua offered up that which decorates many a home today, "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." The response of the people is loud and clear that they too, will serve the Lord.
Who has set the pace and place for God in your life? If no one has yet, are you willing to be the one to step forward and say, "We must serve the Lord"? It may well be there are those who are waiting for the pace and place to be set for God; and it may be that if you and your household set this pace and place for God, others may come to do the same.
PRAYER: Loving God, may I set the pace today for myself and my household about serving You. May it be a decision that blesses all of my household and those around it. May we set such a pace of peace and love that they will desire the same for themselves; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
