Readings for the day: Joshua 23, 24, and Judges 1
My grandfather was my spiritual hero. A man who loved and served Jesus for over ninety years. He started preaching at 14. He didn’t stop until he was in his late eighties. After retiring from full-time ministry and moving into a retirement community, he hooked on part-time at a local church and did all the visitation and pastoral care for the graduated care facility. I remember sitting with him in his living room and reading the Bible together after I became a Christian. He had read through the Bible who knows how many times over the years. It was my first time through. In the middle of our time together, he paused and said, “hmmm...never seen that before.” I said, “What do you mean? Haven’t you read through the Bible like a million times, granddad?” “Yes”, he replied, “But there’s always more to discover.” When I graduated from seminary, granddad was dying. He had a few months left to live. He was living in a room with grandma who was catatonic from Alzheimer’s and was suffering from some paralyzation due to a burst cyst in his ear. My mom warned me he probably wouldn’t be able to talk. I walked into the room and for the next TWO HOURS he proceeded to talk my ear off about life and ministry and my future as a pastor. He was so proud. So excited. It was like he had been saving up all his words just for me. He “went the way of all the earth” just two months later. He and grandma died within two weeks of each other. It was the first funeral I performed as a pastor.
One generation rises. Another falls. But the promises of God remain the same. “Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left...Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God...And you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.” (Josh. 23:6, 11, 14) Think of all the things Joshua had seen! Slavery in Egypt. The plagues. The parting of the Red Sea. God meeting with His people on Sinai. The Ten Commandments. Manna from heaven. Wilderness wandering. Water from rocks. The parting of the Jordan. The incredible victories against all odds. The beginning of the conquest of the Promised Land. What a life! And through it all, what marked Joshua was this unwavering commitment to serve the Lord. To love the Lord with all his heart and soul and mind and strength. Joshua was a worthy successor to Moses and led God’s people well. And now at the end of his life, he challenges the people to carry on! To continue to trust God! To walk in faith and see the fulfilllment of all God has promised!
"Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region 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." (Josh. 24:14-15) Choose this day whom you will serve. The question reverberates throughout history. Every generation is called upon to answer. Will we love and fear and serve the Lord? Or will we bow down to the gods of our own making? The gods of our culture? The gods we once served before coming to faith?
As for me and my house...we will serve the Lord!