By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia
Focal Passage: Joshua 24:14-28
I have a treasured book in my study containing some of history’s greatest speeches. I often read them finding myself wishing that I could compose and deliver such stirring homilies. What made those speeches great was not the composition but the passionate soul of the speaker. In Joshua 24, we hear the passion of the retiring, elderly Joshua as he delivers one of his last lectures. “Choose. Choose today. You’ll worship something, with your time, your money, your eyes, and your heart. And you have plenty of options. But you have to choose today just like I have.”
This is the clarion call rising from the pages of Scripture to the world today. It speaks more loudly today than ever before. We must have examples like Joshua to follow, we must flash back to God’s past faithfulness to give us confidence to move forward, and we have to fix our eyes on God and never look away.
Joshua didn’t advise the Israelites to do as he said. He challenged them to do as he did. He stood as their example. Oh, for more men and women today in the world who would do just that! Yet incredibly, the belief in the one true God is on the decline. A recent Gallup Poll (6-26-2016) contained a chilling footnote: “Belief in God, regardless of how the question is phrased to Americans, is down from levels in past decades.” Fewer Americans are choosing God and with fewer Americans choosing, there are fewer examples to follow. What about us? Have we chosen? Will we stand today as lights to the world and say, “I choose the one true God. I will not be ashamed of it. I will not remove His name from my home. I will not remove His son’s name from my holiday?”
Choosing becomes easier when we flash back to God’s faithfulness in our lives. The people responded to Joshua’s example with vigor, “We will certainly not abandon the Lord …” (v. 16). They go on to cite the reason: because they remember what He has done for them. Do we? Once again, the declining belief in an almighty God means, by definition, that we can’t give Him credit for what He has done. But the Bible gives Him credit for all of it. Once we choose Him we can assign to Him all the goodness in our lives. God is good all the time, but only if He is our God.
Finally, Joshua sets a stone (v. 26). It’s a marker for the people to remember that just as Joshua has chosen, they have chosen. They have seen God’s faithfulness and made a commitment to follow. Mark it down, says Joshua. Every time you see this stone, remember your word. It’s time, church, for God’s people to remember — to choose. It’s time for us to stand, to serve, and to never look back. The call is going out to every land — choose you this day.