Some verses in Scripture speak so loudly and clearly that I often feel that I have nothing to add to them. Nothing more to draw out or explain. This is one of those verses. This is also one of those verses that if we, as children of God, but certainly as men of God could just get our hearts and heads around and live out, it would change the trajectory of our marriages, families, and lives.  

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Joshua knows this. Before his death, Moses laid his hands on Joshua, and Joshua was described as being, “full of the spirit of wisdom” (Deut. 34:9). God then commissions Joshua to lead Israel into the Promised Land with this promise from God: “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them” (Josh. 1:5-6).

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God goes on to tell Joshua to “be strong and courageous” twice more in verses 7 and 9, admonishing him to be sure to obey, not turning to the right or the left from what he had been taught and commanded, and promising him that if he did so, God would be with him wherever he went.  

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Joshua had witnessed disobedience and its consequences. He had seen the results of soft men looking for comfort, longing for the good old days of slavery, where at least they knew what to expect and felt that they were in some sort of control of some things.  “We made the bricks, the slave drivers fed us, you know, good times.” Joshua had seen the ground open and swallow the disobedient; he even saw how his master, Moses, of whom it is stated, “And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face…” (Deut. 34:10), not be allowed to enter the Promised Land due to disobedience that came in a moment of frustration and impatience.  Ever have any of those? Yeah, me either.  (Insert eye roll here.)

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Joshua had also witnessed the beauty of obedience. We see in Exodus 24:13 that Joshua was allowed to go up on the mountain with Moses as he spoke to God and received the tablets that the 10 commandments were written on.  He saw manna, and meat, and water from a rock (the right way and the wrong way). He saw clothes and sandals that did not wear out. He saw the Promised Land before it was theirs, and now in our verse today, he is in it. The walls of Jericho have fallen down with a shout and the land of Canaan has been given into his hands through following those early instructions of not turning to the right or to the left and obeying God boldly.  

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This all leads us to the point we are at with today’s verse. Joshua knows the hearts of man. He knows that we forget so quickly; our spiritual highs are quickly replaced with melancholy ruts, complacency, and the pursuit of an easy and pleasurable life. He knows that as many of them will begin settling in this new land, building homes, starting families, and working, the temptation will be to stop following after God, to stop being strong and depending solely on God. He knows that forgetting is our default mode. Remembrance is active. In many ways, life in this Promised Land was going to be harder than the 40 years in the wilderness.  

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He reminds the people of all that God has done for them and presents them with this challenge: Choose this day whom you will serve! He adds the inspiring, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

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What about you? Have you ever made the conscious decision as to whom you will serve? Have you ever thought about it? If someone were to challenge you to choose this day whom you will serve, what would you say?  

Even many of us Christians, who have, of course, accepted Jesus as our Savior – have we ever stopped to consider who we will spend our life serving? We will serve something, someone – often ourselves. Again, that is our default, to be lord of our own lives, masters of our own destinies. It will take active, conscious work to put someone else in that place.  

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We need men who think on this. We need husbands and fathers to know the answer and to lead their families in strength and courage. I would ask you to stop right now and do that. Grab a pen and paper and write out what it would look like if you were to answer as Joshua did, and say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  

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I can assure you it will look vastly different than what many of our lives look like now.  I love this verse and find myself frequently coming back to it and reassessing my life. Every time, it leads to refinement.  More surrender. More stepping up. Less me. More God!    

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Choose this day whom you will serve!