A Daily Decision (Friday Devotional)

“Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

- Joshua 24:14-15

I’ve been jogging on a regular basis for four years now—first to train for a half marathon, then for a full marathon, then just for fun and exercise—and in many ways it has gotten easier with time. My legs don’t tire out nearly as quickly. It takes a lot longer for me to run out of breath. I know what pace to set.

But there’s one aspect of running which is just as hard today as it was when I first laced up my shoes four years ago: deciding to do it. Whether because it’s too hot outside or too cold, because I’ve had too much coffee or too little, because I don’t have the energy or the time or the desire, whatever my excuse is, every day it’s an interior battle—do I stay inside and enjoy lazy comfort or go outside and get some much-needed exercise? The actual running has gotten easier with time, but making the choice to do it remains something I must recommit to every single day.

That same principle applies to serving the Lord. While placing your faith in Christ for salvation is tied to a singular moment or period in your life, choosing to then follow Jesus in obedience is a daily decision. No one is drafted into the Lord’s army; you must choose to answer the call to service.

That’s why Joshua, Moses’s successor as the leader of the ancient Israelites, took a moment after the conquest of Canaan to make God’s people decide whom they would serve. They had seen miraculous wonders in their lives and the lives of their parents and grandparents: deliverance from Egyptian slavery, safe passage through the parted waters of the sea, provision in the desert, and now entrance into the land God had promised them. There could be no doubt that God was with them.

Yet Joshua recognized what the people had been proving for years, what we continue to prove today: no matter how evident God’s grace is in our lives, we have a wandering eye for something better to come along. We are always searching, whether passively or actively, for an idol which will answer to us, a false god we can craft in our own image.

So in their moment of victorious celebration, when God’s power was self-evident, Joshua called the people to decide once again who they would faithfully serve. They had desperately needed God’s power in Egypt and in the desert, so they had eagerly committed to follow Him then. But now, as a more comfortable life beckoned, Joshua recognized the people needed to decide once again who their God was.

You must make the same decision every day. If Christ lives in you, are you faithfully and regularly serving him? Are you daily lacing up your shoes to go to work for the Lord? Some days it’s easier than others; some days your head fills with reasons why you can’t, shouldn’t, or simply don’t want to. On those days, may you seek God in prayer, and may your heart ultimately echo Joshua’s: “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”