14 “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, 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
Idolatry is a huge problem in Christianity. If we honestly look at ourselves, we worship everything but God. I’m not one to categorize “sin” but idolatry has to be at the top of the list of most committed sin. God has called and commanded us to worship him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Simply put, God wants us to worship him with our whole being. God understood that we would have other “gods” in our lives, hence the reason we are told not to worship these other “gods” before him. The problem is that we are easily distracted by so many different things in this world. We are distracted by our successes and our failures, our joys and our pains, our ups and downs. So many things vie for our attention and we graciously and willingly give it over to them.
However, God has given his recommendation that we “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be given to you as well.” God has warned us that we cannot “serve two masters, because we will love one and hate the other, we will devote ourselves to one and despise the other.” God has advised us that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength.” So let us begin to look into our lives and see what it is that we truly worship. What are the “gods” and “idols” in our lives that are preventing us from worshiping God? What is it that is blocking us from having real relationship with God? And then we must answer Joshua’s challenge to the people of Israel: “choose this day who you will serve...but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” So on this day ask yourself “Who will I serve?” I know for me, I will serve the Lord.
This is Minister Mike and I want you to Consider This...
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