The new start (7)

Life was not easy we had daily battles just to survive but for me it was all summed up when Joshua our great leader and figure head called us all together at Shechem Joshua 24:1 and delivered some words that meant we had to make a choice. We heard how this great God of ours had led our forefathers in times gone past and had delivered us as a people group from slavery and wilderness experiences into a land of promise and abundance. That to me was incredibly real, although I did not remember the Egypt experience I certainly remember the wilderness experience and did not want to live through that again. Joshua went on to remind us that we had been given a land for which we had not worked for, cities that we had not built and vines and olives that we had not planted. Joshua 24:13 All this was an out pouring of grace and mercy beyond what we deserved. 


What Joshua said next will remain with me for the rest of my life, he said,
Joshua 24:15  “fear the Lord, serve Him with sincerity and in truth and put away the gods that your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt.” Then he hit us with a challenge “choose for yourselves this day who you will serve, whether the gods of the past or the gods of the present but as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.”

To me the choice was simple I had experienced great blessing and had seen how Jehovah had sustained us and carried us through many trials. This God was something bigger than I had ever first imagined. He was not contained in experiences of past generations or confined to experiences of current reality, He was a God who was capable of absolutely anything, at times and places He would choose and all that was required was faith and trust that he would see us through what ever lay ahead.

There was great euphoria in the gathering as all the gathered people said, with one voice, “we will serve the Lord, for He is our God.” You would think that that was the end of the story and the end of a great sermon of encouragement resulting in a commitment beyond expectation, where all the gathered congregation said with one voice Joshua 24:18 “we will serve the Lord”, but no Joshua then added some words that were very sobering and required our individual attention. He said Joshua 24:19 “You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God, He is a jealous God: He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” To my surprise the whole congregation replied Joshua 24:21 “No we will serve the Lord.” What we were going to experience after Joshua died was that he was right, we could not serve this Holy, Jealous God with out messing up. We realised that we needed some one appointed by God to stand in the gap, I suppose a kind of Joshua figure, Jehovah my Salvation, one who would pay the price forever for our failures and indiscretions. Little did we know at the time that that is exactly what this God, our God, Jehovah had planned for future generations, a plan that would involve His only son another man who's name means Jehovah my Salvation.

I am great-full to God for sustaining me in my life and I know that He will sustain anyone who puts their trust in Him. I have proved it along with countless others down the ages. I hope and pray that you will be encouraged to give this God, Jehovah a chance. Don't write Him off just because He can't be explained or contained, just keep living and remember the words of Joshua our great example “as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.”