Welcome to Day 134 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional! This series is about finding nourishment in the Word of God to get us through the day. In each devotional, I take a variety of scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses each) and build our understanding of what they teach via their context and connecting scripture. My goal is to help you understand how to be the type of human God created you to be.
Joshua 24:15 is our focus scripture today. We see Joshua take a stand, something we can learn to do ourselves sometimes.
| NASB | NLT | VOICE |
| 15 But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the good which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” | 15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” | 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” |
There’s that “but” again. In that concept of refusal, Joshua gave a command: fear God and serve him wholeheartedly; remove the idols and serve only God. If you don’t, choose who you will serve today. Joshua shows his spiritual leadership in this line of questioning. Joshua knows his family, whether it’s his direct line or his descendant’s line – they will follow YHWH. Joshua committed to God and was determined to live out that commitment. He didn’t care who said what about his decision. He would do it because he knew it was the right thing to do. This is how our mindset should be. We need to live our lives as we know best for us. Only God is the judge to determine if how we’re living is right or wrong. Others may offer advice and guidance, which is okay, but they do not have the final say. How our lives run is between God and us. We can set the example of living out that kind of life, and it can lead to encouragement from others about how they should live too.
This taking a stand happened to Elijah as well.
| NASB | NLT | VOICE |
| 21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to struggle with the two choices? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer so much as a word. | 21 Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent. | 21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. |
Elijah challenged people to take a stand. They must make a firm choice about who they will follow as the true God. Many people knew that YHWH was God but enjoyed the sinful pleasures and the other benefits that came with following Ahab in his idolatrous worship. Taking a stand is choosing who to follow, which is important – not just for our earthly life but our eternal one. If we just float through life doing whatever is easy and pleasant, we find ourselves serving ourselves, not God. We’ll face the consequences of that for eternity. The works of God aren’t always easy. It can sometimes pull us out of our comfort zone and force us into spaces that we’re not familiar with to spread the Gospel and care for others properly. There’s nothing wrong with that either. Seeing someone step out of their comfort zone is inspiring, and I want to go out and do the same thing. It won’t look the same, but you can do it!
I close with this breath prayer. Some of you may find this humorous with where it comes from, but it applies very heavily in this devotional today.
BREATHE IN: I’m not afraid…
BREATHE OUT: …to take a stand.
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