"Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
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 24:14-15
These are part of the last words of Joshua, who was encouraging the people to be obedient before he died. The first phrase asks us to fear the Lord, which is something that the scriptures mention frequently (for example, see Psalms 128:1 or Isaiah 8:13). The fear that it talks about is a healthy respect or awe, not the kind of paralyzing fear or urge to run away that we often associate with the word. I think it is a good reminder that God is *God* after all... all powerful, all knowing, and definitely much, much smarter than we are. Someone we should follow and listen to rather than trying to compete with. :)
Choosing is an important theme here as well. I like that it asks the people to choose "this day." The longer we try to ride the fence in our lives on something this important, the longer life is going to be wishy-washy and end up nowhere. We have to find out if he is there or not if we don't already know, and we have to take a stand so that we have a foundation to build on. Instead of having to worry about whether God exists each day, or which God to serve, we need to move on and learn more... learning about faith, prayer, keeping the spirit with us, and getting to know God more and more in our lives, building that bond that allows us to draw on his help whenever we need it.
Choosing God also means serving him. I love the idea of working for God actually, because he is a better employer than any other we could ever have. And his yoke is easy and his burden light (Matthew 11:30). Serving him is learning and teaching the gospel, living his way and becoming more than we could be alone. When we work for him, he asks us to help others and teach them of his salvation.
Today, respect and choose God. Let's remember him and work for him every day, learning all we can, and helping the people around us as well. Let's keep building on that choice and foundation of belief so we can learn more about him, grow in his gospel, and progress and become closer to him... learning and sharing goodness and mercy and truth and light, and all the other awesome things that he embodies.
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 24:14-15
These are part of the last words of Joshua, who was encouraging the people to be obedient before he died. The first phrase asks us to fear the Lord, which is something that the scriptures mention frequently (for example, see Psalms 128:1 or Isaiah 8:13). The fear that it talks about is a healthy respect or awe, not the kind of paralyzing fear or urge to run away that we often associate with the word. I think it is a good reminder that God is *God* after all... all powerful, all knowing, and definitely much, much smarter than we are. Someone we should follow and listen to rather than trying to compete with. :)
Choosing is an important theme here as well. I like that it asks the people to choose "this day." The longer we try to ride the fence in our lives on something this important, the longer life is going to be wishy-washy and end up nowhere. We have to find out if he is there or not if we don't already know, and we have to take a stand so that we have a foundation to build on. Instead of having to worry about whether God exists each day, or which God to serve, we need to move on and learn more... learning about faith, prayer, keeping the spirit with us, and getting to know God more and more in our lives, building that bond that allows us to draw on his help whenever we need it.
Choosing God also means serving him. I love the idea of working for God actually, because he is a better employer than any other we could ever have. And his yoke is easy and his burden light (Matthew 11:30). Serving him is learning and teaching the gospel, living his way and becoming more than we could be alone. When we work for him, he asks us to help others and teach them of his salvation.
Today, respect and choose God. Let's remember him and work for him every day, learning all we can, and helping the people around us as well. Let's keep building on that choice and foundation of belief so we can learn more about him, grow in his gospel, and progress and become closer to him... learning and sharing goodness and mercy and truth and light, and all the other awesome things that he embodies.
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