We Have Chosen!

 

“You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”

—Joshua 24:22a

In our sin—for we came into this world already stained by sin and have only added to our sinful nature throughout our lives—we cannot serve God. We require the supernatural enabling of the Holy Spirit in order to bend our feeble wills to God's perfect will.

Just as God has chosen to redeem us from the just penalty for our sin, through the precious blood of Jesus, so God has also given us the indwelling Holy Spirit in order to enable us to serve God in obedience.

Joshua did his best to convey this sustaining reality when he spoke these words, as recorded in Joshua 24:19-22:

Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.

“If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”

But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”

Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”

“Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied.

On this day when we gather to worship the God who more than deserves our love and devotion, let us say with one voice, “We have chosen to serve the Lord!”

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}